


Ground Rules

by bubblygoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Shower Sex, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 10:30:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13634463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblygoo/pseuds/bubblygoo
Summary: When management first mentioned promotions in China, Jongdae couldn’t help but flinch.  Another subunit in China, even if they weren’t created to promote there, brought back mixed memories.  They would be there for six weeks, along with Hyunkyun, their manager, and their translator who would moonlight as a tutor.“My Chinese is so bad,” Baekhyun said.  “It’s going to be an uphill battle for our translator.”“She’s aware,” Hyunkyun said dryly.---EXO-CBX make their Chinese debut.





	1. Ground Rules

_  
Fans eagerly await EXO-CBX to make their debut in China! Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin will formally begin promotions on June 2. The three members of EXO will stay in Beijing for six weeks, where they will immerse themselves in the language and culture of China. This will be the first time that EXO has promoted in China since a regulation was put in place in 2016, restricting the ability of Korean artists to perform in China. The regulation was lifted three months ago, much to the delight of EXO’s fans._

_“We’re looking forward to meeting our Chinese fans again,” said Xiumin._

_Chen and Xiumin, originally members of EXO-M, are already familiar with China. Baekhyun, originally a member of EXO-K, will be relying on them to get him caught up to speed._

_“Luckily, our promotions overlap with Lay-hyung,” Baekhyun said, referring to Zhang Yixing, who is currently shooting Go Fighting. “Otherwise, I’d be worried,” Baekhyun added with a laugh._

\---

When management first mentioned promotions in China, Jongdae couldn’t help but flinch. It was one thing to visit China with the rest of EXO, or to perform with Zhang Liyin and promote with Zhou Mi. Another subunit in China, even if they weren’t created to promote there, brought back mixed memories. They would be there for six weeks, along with Hyunkyun, their manager, and Jiahui, their translator who would moonlight as a tutor.

Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Minseok sat three in a row behind a desk facing Hyunkyun and a producer. Jongdae snuck a look at Minseok, whose face was carefully blank.

“My Chinese is so bad,” Baekhyun said. “It’s going to be an uphill battle for Jiahui-noona.”

“She’s aware,” Hyunkyun said dryly.

“We really think the three of you would do well. Your albums have sold well in China, and Chen and Xiumin already have some exposure there,” said the producer.

Jongdae didn’t flinch this time. “It’s been a while,” he said instead.

“Do we have a song ready? Songs?” asked Baekhyun.

“We’re not set on this, honestly. We wanted to pose the idea to you before we go any further,” said the producer. “I know that this could be hard for you.” He was speaking now as the producer who had spearheaded EXO-M, facing two of the three members still under his management. Hyunkyun, too, had seen EXO-M debut and then quietly disappear into EXO. The four of them had so much unsaid between them that Jongdae wondered if Baekhyun felt left out.

“We can do it, of course,” said Jongdae. “As long as Hyunkyun-hyung is there.”

“And drives,” Baekhyun added. “And Jongdae is not allowed to drive.”

“My license doesn’t work in China,” Jongdae retorted.

“Let’s keep it that way,” Baekhyun said primly.

There was a pause, so brief that a stranger listening to the conversation wouldn’t have caught it. But everyone in the room did.

“Yes,” said Minseok.

“Great,” said the producer.

For the next four months, CBX juggled regular promotions for EXO with recording sessions, dance practice, and Chinese lessons. The producer had been modest when Baekhyun had asked him about their plans. Six songs made up their extended play for their Chinese debut. One of the off-title tracks was a song that Jongdae had composed that didn’t make it onto EXO’s latest album. Zhou Mi wrote the Chinese lyrics, which differed considerably from the Korean lyrics that Jongdae penned.

The title track was called “Work,” a song that they had not performed before in any other language. The dance was fun and relatively quick to learn. The music video shoot had them act as various service workers. Jongdae was cast as a car mechanic, which Baekhyun jealously complained was the “sexy” role. Baekhyun was a taxi driver, and Xiumin was a baker. Overall, the production of the album went as well as Jongdae could ask for. Jongdae’s only complaint was that his newly dyed blue hair looked a lot better on the model in the hairstyle magazine than it did on him. Baekhyun got away with a dark shade of brown, and Xiumin had his natural black hair.

Still, Jongdae couldn’t shake the feeling that he got in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about promoting in China. It had been so long since Jongdae had done anything there other than a concert. Concerts were fun. He was surrounded by his members and fans who wanted to be there. Promotions were different.

Six weeks sounded so long. There would only be three of them this time, and none of them were fluent in Chinese. How arrogant of them to continue as if EXO-M had never been, people might say.

If only. It was a terrible thought that Jongdae sometimes had, when the sinking feeling became unbearable.

It was as if Yixing kept tabs on Jongdae’s mood and called him whenever it got too dire. The day before they left Korea was one of those days that merited a call.

“Chen-ah,” Yixing said. “You and Xiumin and Baekhyun have to get dinner or drinks with me when you come.”

“Of course, Yixing-hyung. Thanks.”

“You don’t sound happy,” Yixing said in Chinese.

“What? What are you taking about? I’m...”

Yixing let him trail off into quiet.

“I’m thinking about us in China and how it used to be,” Jongdae confessed, honest in a way he could only be with Yixing, who had seen him through his best and worst.

“Say it in Chinese.”

“Yixing-hyung, you know I can’t,” Jongdae complained.

“Yes, you can.”

Jongdae sighed, knowing that Yixing meant well and that Jongdae was about to disappoint him. “I am... I...” Jongdae struggled to find the right words. “I miss... everyone in China, together.”

That wasn’t at all what Jongdae wanted to say, but then Yixing said, “I miss everyone, too. I think about them all the time.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Jongdae in Korean. “I’m… I’m just worried. What if we don’t do well with just the three of us?”

“You’re going to do well. Better than well, Chen. You’re going to be a big hit.”

The next day, Jongdae had Baekhyun take the window seat when they got on the plane. “Or else you’re going to fall asleep on me,” Jongdae said.

Baekhyun wouldn’t, of course. The flight was short, and Baekhyun and Jongdae spent the whole time talking as usual. The topics ranged from Kyungsoo’s latest acting role (an innocent new employee of a shady company with corruption issues) to Jongdae’s brother’s new relationship.

“I think she’s really great, but he keeps downplaying how much he likes her,” Jongdae whispered.

“He probably doesn’t want to get his hopes up, since his last relationship ended so badly...” Baekhyun whispered back.

Minseok, who fell asleep as soon as the plane left the ground, rolled his head onto Jongdae’s shoulder. “Shh,” he said, eyes closed.

“Your brother acts tough, but he’s soft inside,” Baekhyun continued blithely. “She’ll understand though, if she likes him.”

Minseok reached out blindly for Baekhyun, trying to cover his mouth. Baekhyun batted his hand away.

“Give him a piece of your mind. Tell him that if he doesn’t treat her better, you’ll go after her.”

“I couldn’t do that,” Jongdae said, giggling. He wrapped his arm around Minseok, who opened his eyes to pout at the two of them.

“Don’t actually do it. Just make the threat.”

Jongdae laughed out loud. Minseok growled and then fell back asleep. “You’re really messed up,” Jongdae whispered.

The conversation turned to the drama that inspired Baekhyun’s advice, which they both rated “a solid seven out of ten,” and then to the new restaurant that opened near the SM building, which Jongdae thought was fine and Baekhyun thought was too expensive. Soon, it was time for landing.

Jongdae didn’t care if Baekhyun fell asleep on him. Jongdae gave Baekhyun the window seat because he wanted Baekhyun to see the view. They were flying at night and they would see the lights outlining Beijing. All of EXO had seen this view multiple times, but Jongdae had never paid attention to the others when they saw it. He paid attention now, watching the lights reflect in Baekhyun’s eyes.

It was something Jongdae thought that Minseok should see, though he couldn’t explain why. He woke Minseok up and pointed at the window. Minseok didn’t ask what Jongdae meant, but he kept watching. Baekhyun must have noticed, but the spell of silence fell over him, too, and the three of them were quiet until they got off the plane.

\---

They had rented two long-term stay apartments at a hotel. Jongdae, Minseok, and Baekhyun would stay in one apartment, and Hyunkyun had the apartment down the hall. Jiahui was staying with family. The rest of the staff remained in Korea. They would be working with a Chinese production and support team, who would meet them in Beijing.

Jongdae unpacked his things, which felt weird. He had always lived out of his suitcase when he stayed at a hotel - except for his debut, that is. This apartment was furnished with paintings of fruit and vegetables. He was putting away his socks when Baekhyun stuck his head in the room.

“Jongdae, I’m hungry. Let’s- what are you doing?”

Jongdae was holding a sock above an open drawer that had other socks in it. “Putting my socks away,” Jongdae said, slowly and clearly.

“Obviously. I meant why.”

“We’re going to be here for six weeks.”

“One and a half months.”

“Same thing.”

“It sounds shorter,” Baekhyun retorted.

“You should unpack your stuff. It’s going to get wrinkled,” Jongdae said.

“My suits are hanging. I don’t care if my underwear gets wrinkled. Or my socks.”

“You say that now,” called Minseok from across the hall. “Don’t think I’ll forget this when you ask for the mini-steamer.”

Baekhyun gave Jongdae an impish look, which probably meant that he was planning to iron all of his underwear and socks tomorrow in front of the TV that he was absolutely not sharing.

Baekhyun waited for Jongdae to finish unpacking, and then he sighed dramatically. “Fine, I’ll unpack. Can you come help me, pretty please?”

“You could have unpacked while you were watching me take out my ties.”

“But then I’d have to do it by myself. Hurry up, I’m hungry.”

Baekhyun had his suits hanging in his closet, but he had unpacked none of his other clothes. Still, it only took them a few minutes to empty his suitcase because Baekhyun hadn’t packed much. Jongdae had a feeling that Baekhyun was planning to pilfer things from Jongdae’s closet.

“What’s to eat around here?” Baekhyun asked.

“Let’s order delivery,” Minseok said, who had joined them in living room. “It’s late.”

“Let’s go out, then. Less people,” Jongdae said.

“Early schedule,” Minseok replied.

“Green onion pancake,” Jongdae said, and Minseok gave in.

Hyunkyun drove them to the nearest restaurant that was open. They hadn’t tried it before. It was half an hour to closing when they arrived, and no one else was there. There was only one person to wait the table, and he looked eager to leave.

“Green onion pancake?” asked Hyunkyun, whose Chinese was the best among them.

“No more,” said the waiter.

Hyunkyun frowned but continued to order dumplings, zhajiangmian, and garlic vegetables. The food was surprisingly good. They were warm and full when they left, though Jongdae missed the pancake.

They had parked nearby, so the walk to the car was short. The summer night was pleasantly cool. It was almost a shame to climb back into the car, though there was plenty of room with just the three of them.

\---

They did have an early schedule the next day: dress rehearsal, in full makeup, for their debut stage in China, and then taping. It felt weird to call it their debut, but for CBX, that’s what it was. It was hard to miss how much they stood out as the only group trained in Korea, not to mention the only people not fluent in Chinese. Jongdae took a deep breath before he opened the door to makeup and costume.

“Chen! Xiumin!”

For a moment, Jongdae didn’t recognize the people in the room. Then, as though hearing his stage name triggered a call and response instinct, he said, “Dongyu-jie! Chi-ling-jie!”

Jongdae hastily bowed to cover up his outburst. Baekhyun and Minseok followed, making their formal greetings. Dongyu and Chi-ling, two of the makeup artists and stylists who worked with EXO-M, waved off any formalities. They got to work quickly, and Jongdae spent the next half hour in a chair, catching up with them in stilted Chinese.

“How’s your brother?” Dongyu asked. “Still handsome?”

“Hey,” said Jongdae. “He has a girlfriend. She is nice.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

With makeup done, Jongdae was off, and Chen was on the clock. Minseok was next. He was always the favorite of the staff, and it still showed. Dongyu clucked in concern over his skin, and Chi-ling mentioned that they watched him perform on the internet the other day.

“Not me?” Chen asked.

“Oh, yes, you were also very good,” Chi-ling added.

As they had makeup put on, the dancers came in to greet them. Chen recognized a few of them of them who had worked with EXO-M before. Chen realized that this was by design, of course. It was good to see some familiar faces, even if they hadn’t talked much before.

“This is Baekhyun, ah, Buo Xian,” Chen said to the dancers. They greeted Baekhyun with less familiarity than they had Chen, but that was to be expected.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” Baekhyun said, bowing fully. There was some awkward silence until Baekhyun sat in the makeup chair, too brief for Chen to do anything more than to realize it was occurring. Awkward silence and Baekhyun usually didn’t get along. Then Xiumin finished dressing and came over to say hello, and the silence was over. The dancers greeted Xiumin just as fondly as Dongyu and Chi-ling had greeted him.

Baekhyun was on his best behavior in the makeup chair, with none of his usual charm. Dongyu and Chi-ling were also very polite to the point of stiffness. Chen found it all very strange. He came over to Baekhyun’s side.

“You’re pretty quiet,” said Chen in Korean. “Is she not your type?”

Dongyu gave him a look that said she knew he was talking about her.

“I can barely ask where the bathroom is in Chinese. Flirting would be a disaster,” Baekhyun said.

“Hey, what are you saying?” Dongyu asked.

“Chen says I’m cute,” Baekhyun said in Mandarin, smiling at himself in the mirror.

Chen burst out laughing.

The dancers had learned their parts with three stand-ins for Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin, and CBX had done the same. It was as though they were two puzzle pieces slotting into place with each other, but some of the edges didn’t quite fit. Baekhyun would apologize for his mistakes in Korean, switching to Chinese after one of the dancers told him the word.

Xiumin went over the choreography with Baekhyun during breaks. Baekhyun made fewer mistakes then, but Chen could see his frustration building over the course of the day, surrounded by people he didn’t know. Chen doubted that Baekhyun’s troubles were with the technical aspects of the dance, which he had learned faster than Chen had.

They paused briefly for water and for the mics to be adjusted.

Baekhyun was quiet. Chen waited for the stage directors to fix Baekhyun’s mic. Then he came over and nudged Baekhyun in the shoulder.

“Almost done, Baekie,” Chen said, resting his hand at the back of Baekhyun’s neck, massaging lightly. “You’re doing well. How are you feeling?”

Baekhyun nudged him back. “I’m all right. Sorry for all the screw ups.”

“Don’t apologize, idiot.”

Whatever fatigue Baekhyun felt, he didn’t show it in his voice, which was flawless. His pronunciation would improve with time, just as Chen’s did. They adjusted the mics twice between run-throughs until the stage director was satisfied. Then the fans were let in.

CBX had their own waiting room. Chen wondered if they should go around to talk to greet their seniors. It would awkward, perhaps, to speak through Jiahui, since none of them were confident enough in the Chinese to address their seniors.

They were called out to do a transition bit. There were two hosts, different from when Chen had last performed for the show. They introduced them in Chinese, too quickly for Chen to follow. Luckily, the hosts finished with, “Please tell us what feeling you want to convey with your song, ‘Work.’”

“Yes, ‘Work’ is about enjoying! Please _enjoy_ our song!” said Xiumin, ending with a dazzling smile.

“Oh wow, your Chinese is so good!” said the host.

As they went back to their waiting room, they passed some of the other acts. They bowed and greeted them accordingly, but it was awkward and quick. Hyunkyun gave them a stack of their signed albums.

“Let’s go say hello,” Chen said. Xiumin and Baekhyun nodded, steeling themselves.

The first room belonged to TFBoys, three young men who were still in their late teens. If it was odd to have Chen, Xiumin, and Baekhyun bow to them despite being many years older than them, TFBoys didn’t show it. They accepted the album graciously and exchanged small talk, mostly through Jiahui, who looked thrilled.

They moved on quickly to the next room, and then the next, until they had greeted everyone else who was scheduled to perform that day. In each room, they made stilted conversation and quickly exited as soon as it was polite to do so.

Back in the waiting room, some of the dancers were idling, some talking at ease with each other, others going over some of the steps. Chen, Xiumin, and Baekhyun were quiet. The three of them were nervous, but he wondered whether people could tell. Would the dancers notice Xiumin taking deep breaths? Would Dongyu confuse Baekhyun’s sudden nervous energy for excitement?

“Let’s go! Come, come,” Chen said to the dancers, gathering the ones outside the waiting room to join the others. “Hands in.” Chen put his hand in first, followed quickly by Xiumin and Baekhyun, and then eventually by all the dancers. “Count to three, then we say, ‘EXO, let’s love!’ Yeah?”

The dancers looked skeptical, but Xiumin nodded, and Baekhyun smiled. “One, two, three.” Baekhyun could count to three, at least.

“EXO, let’s love!”

Only Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin had said the words with any enthusiasm; the dancers were either amused or confused. There was no time to try it again. They were on in thirty seconds.

\---

The car stopped in front of an office building.

“Yes, hello. Are you ready for us? Okay, we’re coming now,” said Hyunkyun on the phone.

_We’re outside! See you soon!_

Chen hit send on his messenger app and hopped out of the car. They entered through the side of the building, where they checked in with security and then took the elevator seven floors up. On the seventh floor was a sound booth for SM Entertainment’s new Chinese radio show, hosted by Victoria of f(x) and Zhou Mi of Super Junior M, the recipient of Chen’s text.

Today’s broadcast was being called the SM Special. Really, it was an attempt to ease CBX into speaking Chinese comfortably enough that they could be followed along over the radio. There would be video as well, which no doubt would be seen by fans in Korea and elsewhere.

“How did it go?” Zhou Mi asked Chen in Mandarin.

For a moment, Chen wanted to pretend that he didn’t understand the question, but Zhou Mi wouldn’t believe that, and even if he did, he would just translate it. “No mic?” Chen said instead, only semi-joking.

Zhou Mi laughed, throwing him a bone. “The three of you look so tired. Baekhyun especially looks like he wants to take a nap.”

Chen looked over to Baekhyun. He looked pale. They had been working since the early morning, and it was now hours after sunset.

“It was so-so,” Chen said.

They performed as well as they could, Chen thought, with no points taken off for lack of effort. Their fans made a decent showing, too, which Chen was immeasurably grateful for. But Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin were far from perfect, as Jiahui and Hyunkyun let them know afterwards. Their pronunciation had fallen off quite a bit in the live performance, particularly Baekhyun’s.

“Wow, you can really tell they’re Korean!” one of the hosts had said after.

“Really? I think one of them might have been Japanese. Or Thai?”

It was just a passing comment, nothing compared to what Chen had head from some of the ruder audience members, but the thought of that being broadcasted made him angry. In a brief fantasy, he thought about asking Hyunkyun to cancel all engagements with this station, and then going back onstage and speaking in flawless Chinese about how hard the three of them had worked to come here. It was moments like this that made him feel the most regret about EXO-M. And then the fantasy passed.

“You’ll get better,” Zhou Mi promised. “It always gets better.”

Then they were on air.

“Hello, everyone! We are here with EXO-CBX, ChenBaekXi. They just released their Chinese mini-album, ‘The Beginning.’ Let’s have them introduce themselves.”

Jiahui was on standby, but Zhou Mi and Victoria insisted that she not be in the booth while recording. Chen, Xiumin, and Baekhyun were left to fend for themselves.

“We are going to be speaking in simpler, straightforward language today to make it easier for our Korean friends,” said Zhou Mi after their introductions.

“Thank you,” said Xiumin. “We appreciate it.”

“When I was learning Korean, it was really the speed that was the hard part,” Victoria said. “Everyone just spoke so fast.”

“Yes,” Chen said. “But even when I understand, it’s hard to reply.”

“That’s even worse,” said Victoria. “When people talk as though you can’t understand them, and you can’t tell them how rude they’re being!”

They laughed.

“Let’s talk about your album,” Zhou Mi said. “Buo Xian, what’s your favorite song?”

“Um...” This was Baekhyun’s first time talking since his introduction. “I like ‘Back to Back.’”

“Oh, ‘Back to Back’! Why that song?” asked Victoria.

“Zhou Mi-ge wrote the lyrics,” Baekhyun said.

“Oh, because Zhou Mi wrote the lyrics!” Victoria said.

“Yes, they’re very good,” Chen chimed in.

“Very fun,” Xiumin added.

“Thank you,” said Zhou Mi. “It reminded me of writing the lyrics for ‘Swing’ by Super Junior-M, also a group who primarily sings Chinese as a second language. But I’m surprised you didn’t say it was because Chen composed the music!”

“Too much praise… is bad,” Baekhyun said.

The studio rang with laughter. Then the conversation turned to Amber, a favorite among the show participants.

“Amber helps me a lot,” Xiumin said. “She taught me a Chinese saying. Yī kǒu chī bù chéng pàng zi.”

“Ah! A good saying!” said Victoria.

“You can’t get fat on just one mouthful,” Zhou Mi whispered in Korean to Baekhyun and Chen away from the mic. “Good things take time and effort. Like learning Chinese.”

“Did she give you any advice about China?” continued Victoria.

“Yes, she say that Victoria’s so nice and buys everyone food.”

“Of course she would, the freeloader,” Victoria said. “For you guys, though, big sister will buy you whatever you want!”

The program took a break for commercials, and they went off mic. Chen wrapped his arm around Baekhyun, who was looking better since the program started. Xiumin did the same.

“Photo op!” Zhou Mi said. He and Victoria came behind them, and one of the staff used their phone to take a picture.

“You guys are doing really well. Right, Jiahui?” Victoria called out to Jiahui, who was sitting in the engineering room, which was separated from the sound booth by glass. Jiahui gave them a thumbs up. “Are you still mad that we made you sit outside?” Victoria teased.

Baekhyun leaned his head onto Chen’s shoulder. They waved to the camera that was live-streaming the broadcast. Chen wrapped an arm around Baekhyun’s waist where the camera couldn’t see. He squeezed once, then twice, and again until he could feel the stress leave Baekhyun’s body.

When the broadcast ended, it was midnight. Jiahui called a cab to take her back to her parents’ house. Before she left, she reminded them to do their homework, which was due soon. CBX said goodbye to Zhou Mi and Victoria and got back in the car.

Minseok took the bathroom first, leaving Jongdae and Baekhyun to sit around in the living room. They had changed into house clothes. Baekhyun had a hat covering his eyes. They had already gone over today’s performance in detail ad nauseam, so Jongdae didn’t want to bring it up again.

“Jongdae,” Baekhyun said.

“Yeah?”

There was a long pause before Baekhyun continued. “What’s our schedule tomorrow?”

“What, you forgot? In the morning we have a music show, and in the afternoon we have _Surprise Camera_ ,” Jongdae said, referring to a hidden camera variety show.

“When are we going to have time to do our homework?” asked Baekhyun.

“I’m almost done with mine. I’ll help you with yours.”

“When did you have time to do your homework?”

“Here and there.”

Baekhyun huffed. “Liar. You didn’t sleep, did you? You shouldn’t help me, anyway. I’ll learn better on my own.”

“It’s better if you practice with someone,” Jongdae insisted. “It’s not like you can talk to yourself in Chinese.”

“You’re right. There would just be dumbfounded silence.”

Jongdae snorted. “Silence with you?”

Baekhyun was quiet for a moment, long enough for Jongdae to wonder if he had said something wrong.

“There, see? You feel bad now?” Baekhyun teased. He lifted the hat to show his eyes, bright and playful.

Jongdae shoved him lightly.

“It’s okay,” Baekhyun said magnanimously. “I’ll forgive you if you help me with my homework.”

“You want to do it now?”

Baekhyun sighed. “Yes, Chen-Lǎoshī.”

Jongdae was in the middle of going over vocabulary with Baekhyun (“Employee… Employer… Paycheck…”) when Minseok came out of the bathroom.

“Bathroom,” Baekhyun said in Chinese.

Minseok had finished most of his homework, too. Minseok, the opposite of Jongdae, was better at reading and writing Chinese than he was at speaking. Jongdae compared his answers with Minseok, their papers laid out on the coffee table in the living room-kitchen area.

“Just like old times,” said Minseok.

The two of them used to do their homework in between EXO-M schedules in China. Jongdae had resented it then, not that he ever admitted it out loud. On top of spending hours in a crammed van, getting little to no sleep, and missing home, he had to learn a new language for a market he felt little connection to. He had to answer to a name that made people think he was Chinese, only to be sorely disappointed when he actually tried speaking it.

As he was doing his homework now, Jongdae realized how much progress he had made. He really had gotten better at Chinese, to the point that he started to speak Chinese to Baekhyun and Minseok without thinking. With just Minseok and Jongdae quietly working on their homework together, Jongdae could feel the ghosts of the people who had so kindly helped Minseok and Jongdae learn their language.

Baekhyun finished with the bathroom, and Jongdae took his place. When he came back out, Minseok had helped Baekhyun finish his written homework, which was a few assignments behind theirs.

“Oral practice,” read Minseok. “Practice saying these everyday workplace words...”

“Hello,” said Baekhyun. “What time is the meeting today?”

“It is at nine in the morning. Are you prepared for your presentation?” read Minseok.

“Yes, I am very confident.”

Jiahui had them download an app that had recordings so that they could practice pronunciation. It was a poor substitute for the help of native speaker, but it would have to do for self-study.

“Burberry? Blurberry? Blueberry?” muttered Baekhyun in Mandarin.

“Why are you so obsessed over that word?” Jongdae asked.

“When people ask me to describe the natural phenomenon that is your hair, I want to be as accurate as possible.”

That earned Baekhyun another shove.

It was almost three in the morning. They had an early start tomorrow, so they decided to go to sleep.

Before they opened the doors to their respective rooms, Baekhyun made a small, hesitant noise. “Thanks for the help,” he said, mostly to the floor than to anyone else. Then he disappeared into his room, closing the door.

“Cute,” Minseok chuckled.

Jongdae bid him goodnight. As soon as he was in his room, he collapsed onto his bed.

One day down.

\---

Though ChenBaekXi had _Surprise Camera_ scheduled for the afternoon, they wouldn’t begin shooting until the early evening because makeup would take more than an hour. The makeup artists had sat Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen next to each other in a line, so they could observe each other’s transformations.

Chen chuckled at the shaggy black wig that makeup had chosen for him. It matched the beard that makeup had applied to him, as well as the thick square glasses that rested in front of the mirror. Makeup had also drawn some wrinkles on him. He wore concealer around the edge of his mouth to disguise the shape of his lips.

When the process was finished, Chen could barely recognize himself. He could recognize Xiumin and Baekhyun if he looked at their eyes, but would he recognize them in a crowd?

Xiumin was wearing a baseball cap and a wig of short black hair. He, too, wore glasses, as well as a prosthetic nose that was wider and longer than his. Carefully applied makeup also gave the impression of higher cheekbones and a narrower face, finished off with a mustache and goatee.

Baekhyun’s wig gave him long black hair that looked as though it hadn’t been washed in a few days. He wore no makeup besides a little smudged eyeliner beneath his eyes, deepening the bags there. There was some powder on his lips to make them thinner and paler. Compared to Chen and Xiumin, who were aged up, Baekhyun looked a thin teenager with his baggy black t-shirt and too-big jeans. Chen and Xiumin could have been his parents, both wearing khakis and beige jackets.

“We look amazing,” Xiumin marveled.

With CBX’s makeup done, they were ready to meet the public. They took the elevator down along with the camera crew and walked ten minutes in the street to the nearest shopping mall. Nobody gave them a second glance. They stopped at a series of food stalls in an outdoor plaza to buy snacks. Baekhyun took a selfie of the three of them grinning widely.

Once at the mall, their first stop was an empty shoe store. The staff fixed a camera at the cash register beforehand so that Chen could enter the store alone. The crew, Xiumin, and Baekhyun waited outside, watching through the store front window.

Chen had been in countless shoe stores since his debut, either for work or for pleasure, and almost every time, someone had recognized him. It was flattering and gratifying, but it did put a hamper on his shopping. He walked in, and to his surprise, he drew stares from the employees. For a second, he thought they had recognized him. Then he realized that he must have looked out of place as a middle aged man in a shoe store whose main clientele was under thirty years old. Or maybe it was his shoes, which were a plain pair of loafers.

Chen began to pick out shoes as he normally would: basketball shoes, other high-end branded athletic shoes, and the like. Chen asked an employee of the store in a disguised voice if a pair of Nikes would look good on him. The employee said yes with a straight face, to Chen’s delight.

“260 mm?” Chen asked, referring to his shoe size.

The employee returned, and Chen tried on the pair of Nikes. They looked out of place with the capris, but they were comfortable and fit Chen’s style.

“What do you think?” Chen asked the employee. “Cool?”

He gave Chen a thumbs up. Chen laughed. “I’m serious, sir!” the employee insisted. “And I’m not just try to sell you something, since I don’t get paid on commission.”

Chen stopped laughing, but his smile was genuine. “Can I dance?”

“Dance? Yeah, you can do anything but swim in them,” the employee said, confused.

“Do you know EXO?” asked Chen.

“EXO?”

Chen sang and danced the chorus of “Work.” By the time he was done, the employee’s jaw was on the ground, and so was the cashier’s.

“Hello, I’m ChenBaekXi’s Chen.” He bowed to the employee and to the cashier. The rest of the _Surprise Camera_ staff came in, along with Baekhyun and Xiumin, who blended in with the crew.

“But- you- you look different,” the employee said blankly to Chen.

“You know me?” Chen asked, somewhat sheepishly.

“Yeah, I saw you guys on TV yesterday. You were singing that song. Wow,” the employee said, awestruck. “You sounded the same as you did on TV.”

Chen laughed. He snapped a quick picture with the employee before he left. He also bought the shoes.

\---

“That was fun,” Chen said to Xiumin and Baekhyun in Korean.

“It looked fun,” said Baekhyun. “When he realized who you were…” Baekhyun made an exaggerated face of surprise. “But- you- you look different,” Baekhyun said, imitating the employee perfectly.

“Hey.” Chen swatted at him.

It was Xiumin’s turn next. They went to the food court, where there was a Korean food vendor. The staff had also installed a camera at the cash register. Baekhyun and Chen sat with the camera crew at one of the tables in the court, listening in on Xiumin’s mic while he ordered.

“Hello, how can I help you?” said the cashier.

“Hello,” Xiumin said, in a lower timbre. “I don’t know much about Korean food. What do you like?”

“Uh…”

Chen and Baekhyun giggled. Xiumin had a strong Korean accent when he spoke Chinese.

“The ddukbokki,” the cashier said, eyeing Xiumin warily.

“Oh, ddukbokki?” said Xiumin in his native accent, which contrasted obviously with the cashier’s. “What is ddukbokki?”

“Uh…” Chen and Baekhyun laughed. The cashier continued, “Rice cakes with sweet and spicy sauce.”

“Wow! You know so much. Are you Korean?” Xiumin asked.

“No…”

“She just works there!” Baekhyun said in Korean, in mock anger. “Why are you doing this to her!”

“But I know a little Korean,” the cashier continued.

“Oh! Really?” Xiumin sounded genuinely excited.

“Yes, I’m studying it in school,” said the cashier. Then, in Korean, “Hello, how are you?”

“I’m well!” Xiumin answered in Korean. “How are you?”

“I’m well,” the cashier responded, as if by rote. “Wait,” she said, confused.

“Do you like Korean culture?” Xiumin asked in Korean.

“Uh… yes,” said the cashier.

“What do you like about it?”

“Uh…” the cashier was laughing now, too. Other customers had come and gone while the conversation carried on, having lost patience. “I like EXO,” she said in proper language. Chen and Baekhyun nodded approvingly.

“Oh! EXO! Who do you like from EXO?”

The cashier giggled. “I like all. But my favorite is… Xiumin.”

“OH!” Xiumin exploded. “Oh! Really? He’s your favorite?”

The cashier nodded.

“Do you like him a lot? Do you know everything about him?” Xiumin asked. Even in his excitement, he remembered to speak clearly with good enunciation, a habit he and Chen had picked up early on.

“I know his favorite food, I know his birthday…”

“When’s his birthday?” Xiumin asked.

“March 26.”

“Wow! So you would recognize him if you saw him?”

“Yes.”

“You know his voice?”

“Yes.”

“Really?” Xiumin said in his normal voice. The cashier gasped. Xiumin sang the chorus of “Work.”

The cashier was silent for a moment before crying out in embarrassment and hiding her face. The crew came forward now, which made the cashier duck beneath the counter. Her coworkers pulled her up and pushed her forward. Other people in the food court gave their group curious looks but none approached them.

Chen and Baekhyun came next to Xiumin so that they could introduce themselves properly. “Thank you for your support,” Xiumin said in Chinese. He held out a signed CD to the cashier. She looked close to tears.

“Thank you so much,” the cashier said. “Your eyes are even more beautiful in person,” she blurted out. Her coworkers giggled behind their hands.

“Thank you, thank you,” Xiumin said.

“Your Chinese is good, too!”

\---

Baekhyun originally wanted to go into a music store and find someone buying EXO’s CDs. Chen imagined the close quarters of a music store, Baekhyun’s popularity, and the chaos that would ensue.

“It’ll be dangerous,” Chen had argued. “Do something easier.”

“Are you worried because a music store can get claustrophobic?” Baekhyun had asked. “Are you worried I’ll get mobbed?”

“I’m worried you’ll get trampled,” Jongdae said. “What if a shelf falls on you and squishes you?

So, they found themselves walking down a row of stores to reach a waiting area with chairs and outlets. Baekhyun broke off from the group and sat next to a middle-aged man who was looking at his phone. Baekhyun stared straight ahead for a few moments and then burst into song. The man whipped his head around so fast that Chen’s neck hurt just watching. Baekhyun finished his line and then got up and left. The man watched as he left, gaping. Xiumin and Chen held on to each other so that they wouldn’t fall over laughing. Once they finished the shot, one of the staff members approached him to explain and to ask permission to show his face. Meanwhile, the rest of the group moved on.

They did this twice more. Then, as they walked through the mall, Baekhyun spotted a young woman waiting by the bathrooms. She was looking at her phone with her headphones in. Lesser mortals would wonder if she would hear Baekhyun over her music, but not Baekhyun. He went to stand next to the woman, a respectful distance away. Then he started to sing, first at a low volume, and then gradually louder. People were started to stop and stare.

“What’s that song?” Chen heard some people say. “It’s catchy.”

“He’s pretty good.”

If only they knew.

The woman didn’t look up until Baekhyun was at full volume. Even then, she didn’t take out her headphones. It took her a beat to realize that there was a crowd drawn around them. She looked around, bewildered, before finally taking out her headphones. Still, she didn’t say anything. She just stared at the strange teenager beside her.

Baekhyun finished the song and then took a bow. The crowd clapped and cheered. The woman clapped, too, despite her confusion.

The crowd parted for Baekhyun as he rejoined them. As they were walking away, Chen heard someone shout, “Hey kid! You should audition for something!”

The three of them burst out laughing.

\---

For the last segment, they joined the production staff and learned how they would blend into the crew. Xiumin volunteered to hold the camera, Chen was the boom operator, and Baekhyun was a writer’s assistant. Their camera would actually be on, but there were several other cameras whose footage would also be used.

“So we zoom like this?” Xiumin fiddled with the camera, showing the camera operator.

“We hold it like this?” Chen demonstrated likewise. “Baekhyun, go stand there please.”

Baekhyun obeyed, striking a cute pose that made everyone laugh at how out of place it was given Baekhyun’s disguise. Chen moved the boom, and Xiumin adjusted the camera. All those hours spent in front of cameras had afforded them some opportunity to learn what it was like behind them. The crew nodded approvingly.

“Your Chinese is pretty good,” one of the crew members said to Chen.

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” Chen said.

“How long will you be here?” a camera operator asked Xiumin.

“Six weeks,” Xiumin said.

The staff left the mall in vans and drove to where _Go Fighting_ was filming. They arrived at an ordinary office building and took the service elevator up. Their destination was a conference room large enough to fit two TV crews. Chen greeted the _Go Fighting_ crew, which had already set up. Once the _Surprise Camera_ team was in place, their program director called Lay’s manager, who was waiting with Lay in the lobby. There was a knock at the conference room door a few minutes later.

“Hello,” Lay greeted, bowing to everyone. He sat down behind the table in front of the cameras.

“So, today we have a Korean group as a guest, who will be working with you to complete a mission,” said the program director of _Go Fighting_. “EXO-CBX. Yixing, do you know them?”

“Yes, I know them very well. They’re a sub-unit of EXO, my group,” Lay responded.

“You said you know them very well?”

“Yes, very well.”

Chen was vibrating with excitement, and he could tell that Xiumin and Baekhyun felt the same, but the three of them were very well-behaved, wanting to catch Lay completely off-guard.

“How popular is EXO?” the program director continued.

“Well…” Lay paused, probably thinking about how to be honest and modest at the same time. “Pretty popular.”

“Who is the best singer in EXO?”

“Chen,” Lay said instantly.

“Who is the most handsome?”

“Me.”

The production staff chuckled amongst themselves.

“What do you miss most about Korea?”

“EXO.”

“EXO-CBX is promoting in China, but none of the members are Chinese. If you could give them some advice, what would it be?”

Chen watched Lay answer the questions through Xiumin’s screen. His heart was pounding. Lay took a breath and thought a bit before answering the last one.

“Chen and Xiumin were part of EXO-M, so I would say, ‘Take care of Baekhyun,’ who was part of EXO-K. They’re probably already doing that anyway. I think they’re going to do great. Their new song is really good. Fans are really going to like it.”

“EXO-CBX is here right now. Can you point them out in the room?”

Lay looked around the room. He looked at the camera crew, and then to his left and right, which had empty chairs. “Where?”

“Look closely,” said the program director.

Lay stared blankly at the program director, who stared back. Lay huffed and glanced toward the boom, which had moved because Chen had twitched.

“What are you talking… Chen-ah?”

Chen reacted by instinct. He glanced up, and the two of them made eye contact.

“Oh!” Lay jumped up out of his chair and pointed at Chen. Chen laughed, unable to help himself.

Lay went around the table to take the boom away from Chen so that he could embrace him properly. Xiumin moved out of the way, putting the camera between him and Lay. Baekhyun stayed behind Xiumin, face covered by the script.

“Chen! Dude! You look like an old man!” Lay said to Chen, still speaking in Mandarin. “I barely recognized you.”

“Amazing! Really!” said Chen, who was touched that Lay could recognize him even disguised as he was.

“And… Xiumin! And Baekhyun!” Lay said, pointing at the two of them.

“No,” said Xiumin, lowering his voice. “Not Xiumin. I’m a camera man.”

Lay took the camera from Xiumin, who was giggling, and handed it over to a staff member, and then did the same with Baekhyun’s script so he could hug them properly.

Chen, Xiumin, and Baekhyun stood side by side and bowed so that they could greet the audience who would be watching the show. Then Lay joined them, and together, “We are one! We are EXO!”

\---

Shooting finished close to midnight again. Hyunkyun dropped them off at a bar, where he had a reserved a private room for them earlier. “I’m coming back in two hours,” Hyunkyun warned. “Keep it classy.”

Classy apparently meant Yixing ordering a plate of fried chicken and two bottles of baijiu “for starters.”

“You don’t have a schedule tomorrow, right?” Yixing asked in Korean.

“We have class in the morning with the tutor,” Jongdae said.

“Oh, good,” Yixing said. “You can be hungover for that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Baekhyun said. “Yixing-hyung, you’re awesome. You learned Korean so fast.”

Yixing waved away Baekhyun’s comments. “You’ve been here for two days.”

“We’ve been studying for a lot longer,” Jongdae said.

“Forget studying. Living here is how you’re really going to learn.”

They were starting on the second bottle when Yixing declared a new rule. “You have to speak in Chinese,” Yixing explained in Korean. “Anyone who speaks in Korean has to buy the next round. Starting… now.”

They all took a drink. Jongdae and Minseok had matched Yixing drink for drink and drained their cups, but Baekhyun took only a sip.

“Next time, it’s going to be everyone. We can rent out the big room, the one with the fancy lights and heated seats,” Yixing said.

“Next time, you come with us,” Jongdae said. “As EXO. A concert.”

“A concert in Beijing?” Yixing asked. “Can’t say no to that.”

Jongdae drained his cup.

“Yixing-ge, can we order more food?” Baekhyun asked.

Yixing called over a waiter.

“Could we have braised pork belly,” Baekhyun said, pointing to the menu. “And two rice, please?” He held up two fingers in a V. The waiter swooned. “What?” Baekhyun said to Jongdae after the waiter left.

“Nothing. You’re cute in Chinese, too,” Jongdae teased.

Baekhyun just shoved him.

“Xiumin-ge is cuter,” Baekhyun declared.

“No, I’m not,” Minseok said simply. “I have a baby’s face but a man’s body.”

“Well said.” Yixing lifted his cup, nodding.

“That girl. ‘Your eyes are even more beautiful in person,’” Baekhyun said breathlessly.

“You are jealous,” Minseok said.

“Girl?” asked Yixing.

“ _Surprise Camera_ shoot. We met one of his fans,” Jongdae explained.

“I wonder… scripted?” Baekhyun asked.

“Hey!” Minseok protested.

“EXO is big,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“But she was real,” Jongdae said. “Or very good at… uh…” He gestured. “Yixing-ge, how do you say…?”

“Acting?”

“Yes! Acting. Maybe she is a movie star?”

“If she’s my fan, it’s okay,” Minseok said.

“How many people did you have to talk to before you found a good one?” Yixing asked.

“Twenty,” Minseok admitted. They, of course, would be cut from the show. “Most liked Sehun.”

“Probably real then,” Yixing concluded.

“Talking is easy with you, Yixing,” Minseok said. “When there is a camera, it’s so hard.”

“Eventually you forget about the camera,” Yixing said. “Especially if there are eleven other people trying to get its attention. It’s a little harder for you guys, but we’re pros now. You’ll get the hang of it. Baijiu helps.”

Jongdae refilled their cups, except for Baekhyun’s, whose was largely untouched after the last time Jongdae had filled it.

“Picture first.” Baekhyun took out his phone. They gathered in for the shot. Jongdae smiled widely, Baekhyun and Minseok went for a cute look, and Yixing was as cool as ever. Baekhyun nodded at the result and put his phone away.

They chatted about the best places to shop in Beijing and recent deals. Yixing complimented Jongdae’s shoes, and Jongdae made a mental note of it. Talk turned to a bag that Yixing was currently hunting for his girlfriend, an actress he had met through a mutual friend.

“It has to be lemon yellow,” Yixing said solemnly. He pulled up a picture of it on his phone and showed it around.

“Oh, I know!” Baekhyun said. “Yves Saint Laurent.”

“How do you know?” Jongdae asked.

“Taeyeon-noona has that bag,” Baekhyun said.

“Oh, I’ll ask her about it later,” Yixing said.

“Is it for a birthday?” Minseok asked.

“No, I just saw her looking at it a few times on her phone, but she keeps saying that she doesn’t need another bag, so she won’t get it for herself. She’s wrapping up shooting next week and then we are both off for a few days, so I was going to give it to her then.”

“Oh, wow,” said Xiumin. “Going somewhere nice?”

“Vietnam.” Yixing said. He repeated himself in Korean. “That doesn’t count!” he said, seeing three Cheshire cat grins aimed at him.

“Vietnam is so great,” Minseok said wistfully. “I want pho. And banh mi. And Vietnamese coffee.”

Baekhyun smiled while he listened, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Thinking about what he had with Taeyeon was painful, especially since their relationship had ended prematurely. Listening to Yixing talk freely about being in a relationship with an actress made Jongdae jealous, too. Through he had been trying not to since they had come to Beijing, Jongdae couldn’t help but think of Luhan. That wouldn’t do.

“More drink,” Jongdae said.

Baekhyun indulged this time, raising his cup first.

“To Yves Saint Laurent,” Baekhyun said with a straight face.

“To lemon yellow,” Yixing added, just as solemn.

Minseok and Jongdae raised their cups.

“Yixing-ge. Chen’s hair. Is it good?” Baekhyun asked.

“His hair? Yeah. It’s nice,” Yixing said.

“Looks like blueberry?” Baekhyun asked.

“Hey,” Jongdae said, half-complaining and half-laughing. Yixing and Minseok just plain laughed.

“I don’t miss dying my hair neon blue,” Yixing admitted. His hair was its natural shade of black.

“It’s not neon,” Jongdae protested.

“It’s blueberry,” Baekhyun agreed.

Hyunkyun came to get them around two in the morning. They bid goodbye to Yixing, who was picked up by his personal manager.

Once they were back at the hotel, Jongdae made a bee line for his room. Minseok grabbed him and Baekhyun before they could get very far and pushed them into the bathroom. He went as far as putting the toothpaste on their toothbrushes and putting the toothbrushes in their hands. Jongdae and Baekhyun obediently brushed their teeth side by side, though the space in front of the sink was only meant for one. Once they were done, Minseok handed them bottles of water and told them to chug.

“Did you get any water?” Jongdae asked Minseok.

“Yeah, I drank some earlier,” Minseok said.

Minseok left Jongdae swaying in the living room while he ushered Baekhyun to his room. Then he came back for Jongdae. Once they were in Jongdae’s room, he sat Jongdae on the bed and pulled off Jongdae’s outer layers and pants, leaving him in a tank top and boxers.

“Did you do this with Baekhyun, too?”

“Of course I did. I love you both equally,” Minseok said.

“Thanks. Sorry.”

Minseok ruffled Jongdae’s hair. “Don’t be. Just repaying the favor.” Minseok left a water bottle and some aspirin on a tissue on the bedside table. “G’night, Jongdae.”

Minseok turned off the light and closed the door, leaving Jongdae alone with his thoughts.

\---

As part of Jongdae’s audition, they asked him whether he had any language skills. Eager to please, he said, “I studied Chinese in middle school.”

Three months later, he was standing next to Luhan, singing in Mandarin before hundreds of people who could hear every slip and mistake in his pronunciation.

For a while, Jongdae thought there would have been no Chen without Luhan. They had debuted together on the same stage. They had sung together, did silly things together on variety shows, and spent countless hours in the studio, watching each other through glass.

After their debut, Luhan’s popularity was unmatched. The company loved him. He could sing, dance, and speak fluent Chinese and Korean. He had a beautiful heart to match his face. He worked hard and never complained. But he needed a partner to harmonize with and to sing the parts he couldn’t reach. For that, the company had Jongdae.

On the worst days, Jongdae would stare at his lyric sheets, with Korean on one side of the paper approximating the pronunciation of the Chinese on the other side, and feel trapped. With his language skills, he couldn’t go anywhere in China without Luhan, professionally or literally. He couldn’t go back to Korea, and even if he could, what would he find there?

Jongdae didn’t think he could tell anyone about those days. He couldn’t tell Luhan, who would feel terrible for something that he had no control over. He couldn’t tell Kris, who had enough responsibility and worry. He couldn’t tell Lay, who already gave Jongdae so much of his time and company without expecting anything in return. He couldn’t tell Tao, who would surely tell the others in a naïve attempt to help.

Jongdae didn’t tell Minseok: kind, talented, overlooked Minseok who worked the hardest of them all. Jongdae didn’t tell Minseok because Minseok was just as trapped as he was.

Jongdae didn’t tell anyone, but somehow, on those worst days, Baekhyun knew to call.

“What do you want?” Jongdae would say, pretending that he wasn’t thrilled to hear Baekhyun’s voice.

“Oh sorry, I thought this was my friend’s number. I’ll hang up now,” Baekhyun would say.

“Don’t,” Jongdae would say.

Mostly they talked about the good things, but sometimes, the bad things would trickle through. When Baekhyun mentioned that his strict diet was producing good results, Jongdae knew that Baekhyun missed being able to eat as much of his mother’s cooking as he wanted. When Baekhyun mentioned that he had gone out for a meal with Kyungsoo and Jongin, Jongdae knew that Baekhyun was trying to find his way into the relationships of the members who had known each other for much longer than Baekhyun had even been in the company.

Jongdae wondered how much Baekhyun could infer from what Jongdae would say. He hoped not much, because it wasn’t that bad, really. Jongdae sometimes imagined how things would be if he debuted in Korea instead of China. Would his name still be Chen? Would it be Jongdae? Or something else entirely?

Things got better, and those bad days became rarer. Jongdae got used to listening to and speaking through a translator without losing the flow of the conversation. His Chinese improved. So did his relationship with the Chinese members, who relentlessly spoiled Minseok and Jongdae by covering for them. But just when Jongdae was getting used to China, and China was getting used to him, he found himself in Korea after all to promote as twelve.

“You’re so fluent in Korean,” people would say to Chen.

“I’m actually Korean,” Chen would say. “My real name is Kim Jongdae.”

“I’ll be honest, I listen to EXO-K more than EXO-M because they sing in Korean. I didn’t really know about Chen until you started promoting as twelve, and really, you’re amazing.”

Chen responded the only way he could, which was, “Thank you.”

Xiumin, once overlooked in China, exploded with popularity. “The most handsome member of EXO, voted by our listeners is… Xiumin! Wow!”

“The idol of the moment, Xiumin,” the other members would tease. Xiumin didn’t know what to do with his newfound fame, other than threaten to punch the members if they didn’t pipe down. He couldn’t do that to radio DJs and variety show hosts, of course.

They liked to say that they were one, but those days, especially during the beginning of promotions as EXO rather than K or M, they were twelve. Jongdae could feel it. Whether it was transportation, meals, or choreography, doubling the number of people quadrupled conflict and, worst of all, awkwardness. Jongdae wished that the members would spit and fight, but they didn’t because they didn’t know how far they could go.

The Chinese members had it the worst. The Korean members were used to the Chinese members being fluent in Korean, so they didn’t bother to translate, forgetting that fluency in the language did not mean fluency in the culture. Minseok was the best at remembering, but his Chinese at the time was even worse than Jongdae’s.

Jongdae found himself busier than ever. Chen was suddenly in demand. In three months, Chen had filmed a reality show, appeared on radio countless times, and sung four different duets with Baekhyun. With everything on his schedule, he didn’t have time to worry about Luhan, Tao, or Kris, all of whom had always seemed so capable.

Jongdae knew that the Chinese members must have missed China as much as Jongdae missed Korea when their positions had been reversed. The jokes about their language skills stopped being funny the fifth time they were told. They must have missed their parents and the familiarity of home. Jongdae didn’t say much to comfort them, and they didn’t ask him to. He once said, “It’ll get better,” to Luhan, in the beginning. Luhan pretended as though he didn’t understand what Jongdae was referring to.

When Luhan told them that he was leaving, Jongdae finally saw how thin Luhan’s wrists had gotten and how ragged he looked without layers of makeup to cover his exhaustion. Luhan explained himself, though he didn’t have to. The members had seen his departure coming.

Jongdae wanted to be angry. There would be no more EXO-M after this. Tao and Lay now had enormous pressure on them, either to go or to stay. Wherever the Chinese members would go, Jongdae and Minseok had no way to follow them. Wherever Luhan went, he took his duets with Jongdae with him. Jongdae wanted to be angry, but he couldn’t.

It was an unspoken truth that Luhan never asked for Jongdae. Luhan didn’t know that he was signing up to be a full-time idol, part-time tutor. He didn’t ask to share the stage with someone who had trained for less than a year. Maybe Luhan had felt trapped, too. He never showed it, not in the beginning, when Jongdae’s attempts at the Chinese lyrics were uncomfortably bad, and not in the end, when Luhan’s health was visibly worsening. Luhan was gracious and professional until the last. He smiled at Chen through their final performances of “Moonlight” and “Angel” in Chinese and Chen smiled back.

After Luhan’s last concert with EXO, the first order on the table was to get very drunk. The company wouldn’t approve of them going out, not when the news of Luhan’s departure would soon be made public. Instead, their managers decided to order in and let the company foot the bill. They rented the executive suite for a night and proceeded to trash it.

The members took turns sitting next to Minseok and drinking with him. By the end of the night, Minseok’s chin was fused to Luhan’s shoulder and his arms clamped around Luhan’s waist. The two of them had cried themselves out earlier on the car ride from the concert venue to the hotel. It was the first time the EXO-K members had seen Minseok cry and they didn’t know what to do.

Minseok looked fine now and seemed to be replacing the water he lost from tears with alcohol. Luhan hadn’t indulged much, choosing instead to keep an eye out for Minseok. He kept his arm around Minseok the entire night.

By the time the party winded down, Minseok was nodding on and off. Jongdae helped Minseok to his feet. “I got this,” he said to Luhan.

The members agreed that Jongdae would get the suite’s bedroom, since it was his birthday, which meant that the rest of them would need to maneuver to the elevator. Jongdae dragged Minseok to the bed and dumped him on it.

“Isn’t this yours?” Minseok asked groggily.

“Well, now it’s yours,” Jongdae said.

“Thanks. Hey, Jongdae?”

“Yeah?”

Minseok closed his eyes. “Sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for, hyung?” Jongdae said fondly.

“Maybe if I were better at Chinese… maybe if I were better at singing… maybe if I were better looking…”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Jongdae asked.

“Then they wouldn’t have left.”

The words hung heavy in the air. They could hear snippets of conversation from the members who were still awake.

“Hyung, don’t be an idiot,” Jongdae said.

“I’m serious,” Minseok said. “I think about it all the time. Maybe if I didn’t weigh everyone down, then we would have been more successful. And then they would have stayed until the end.”

“You never weighed us down. Sometimes I think… you were the only thing keeping us together,” Jongdae said honestly, more to himself than to Minseok, who Jongdae doubted would remember any of this. “I should have been better.”

“How can you be better than the best?” Minseok scoffed. “You’re the best, Jongdae. Love you.” Then he fell asleep.

Jongdae pulled the covers over him and turned off the light. He left the bedroom door slightly ajar, just in case. Outside in the main room of the suite, everyone had gone except for Luhan, who was cleaning up the bottles and containers of take-out food. Jongdae helped him. They worked together in silence. Jongdae was tying up the trash bags when he saw a gift bag thrust in front of him. Luhan held it out with a wry smile.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” Jongdae said. He realized that they were alone, truly alone, for the first time in a long time. He took the bag from Luhan and set it on the floor so that he could finish tying the bag.

“I’m being selfish,” Luhan confessed.

“You don’t have to do this,” Jongdae said, looking away from Luhan’s eyes that were too honest. “You don’t owe an explanation to anybody.”

“I owe one to you. You worked so hard for us to perform together, and I’m about to walk away from it all. I want you to know that it wasn’t all for nothing,” Luhan said earnestly. “You don’t need me.”

“What are you talking about?” Jongdae said.

“You’re so talented. You’re the best singer in EXO, hands-down. Don’t let Baekhyun tell you otherwise.”

Jongdae scoffed.

“You never cried, not once,” Luhan said softly. “You were always the strong one.”

Jongdae didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything.

“I’ll be watching you. This is just the beginning. You’re going to look back and forget all about me.”

“Forget about you?” Jongdae looked at Luhan at last, unable to help himself. He wasn’t wearing makeup. There was nothing between Jongdae and Luhan’s cheeks, his nose, his lips. His eyes. “I wish I could,” Jongdae said bitterly.

“You will,” Luhan promised, misunderstanding Jongdae, as he always did. “I’m hurting you,” Luhan acknowledged.

Jongdae shook his head. “That’s not it.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. You’re right not to.”

“Luhan-hyung,” Jongdae started.

“I understand if you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. It’s the opposite.”

“What do you mean?” Luhan asked.

A feeling had been building inside Jongdae’s chest. It had always been there, since the moment he first met Luhan, and it had only grown over time, despite Jongdae firmly telling himself, “No,” and ignoring it as best he could. He couldn’t ignore that feeling now, not with Luhan in front of him being so incredibly stupid and handsome.

_I’ll never see him again._

Jongdae took Luhan by the elbow and pulled him in. Luhan’s mouth was just above his when they were chest to chest like this. It was soft and open with surprise and easy to kiss. With Luhan in his arms like this, all Jongdae could hear was his own pounding heart.

“Jongdae,” Luhan said. “Wait.”

They broke apart.

Luhan’s eyes were wide with surprise. His face was flushed, and his lips were red. He ran his tongue over them now. “Um. I’m not…”

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae said, chest heaving. “I don’t know why—shit—”

“Jongdae—“

“I’m so sorry. What a fucking thing to do,” Jongdae said nonsensically.

“Don’t—“

Jongdae left the room and walked blindly, not caring where he was going as long as it was away from Luhan. He passed someway on the way who called his name, but he couldn’t stop. He found himself sitting in the stairwell, back to the wall.

His heart was still pounding. His hands were shaking. He couldn’t stop touching his lips.

_Smack!_

He banged his head against the wall. That helped. He took deep breaths. He could fix this. He took some more deep breaths.

Jongdae replayed the moment in his brain again and again. All he could see were Luhan’s eyes, wide with surprise. It felt as though hours had passed by when he heard Luhan call his name, voice echoing in the stairwell. He heard Luhan ascend a few flights and descend a few flights. Luhan called out for him again, and then the door to the stairwell opened and closed.

Eventually, Jongdae got up and went back to the suite. The trash bags had been moved from the main room to outside in the hallway. Someone had put a blanket and pillow on the couch. Luhan’s gift was on the pillow.

Jongdae wouldn’t open the bag until months later. In it, he found a bottle of champagne and a note.

_To new beginnings. Always yours, Lu Han._

\---

A splash of water woke Jongdae up. He groaned and shielded his face from the intruder.

“Good morning, honey,” Baekhyun said, holding an open bottle of water above Jongdae’s face.

“I hate you,” Jongdae said. “What time is it?”

“Six.”

Groaning, Jongdae opened his eyes and sat up. The sun was starting to rise. Baekhyun held out two pills of aspirin and the bottle of water. Jongdae took them gratefully and shuffled off to the bathroom. He washed up quickly. When Jongdae came back to his room, Baekhyun was still there, wearing one of Jongdae’s shirts. He had laid out Jongdae’s clothes on the bed and was sitting beside them, scrolling through his phone. Baekhyun had even dug up a pair of underwear.

“Bathroom’s free,” Jongdae said, pulling off his slept-in shirt and swapping it for the clean one.

“I already used it,” Baekhyun said, not taking his eyes off his phone.

Jongdae changed his underwear and pulled on the jeans, hopping on one foot to keep his balance.

“I thought I’d wake up before you,” Jongdae admitted. He dropped down next to Baekhyun. “Where’s Minseokie-hyung?”

“He was in the gym, but he should be back soon.”

Baekhyun was scrolling through comments on his Instagram. He had posted a picture of the three of them with Yixing from last night. Jongdae’s big smile and Baekhyun’s impish grin told Jongdae that the picture was taken before the two of them had gotten maudlin.

“Sorry about last night. Did you have fun, at least?”

“Yeah, it was fun. You don’t need to be sorry. I was wondering when you were going to crack.”

Jongdae huffed. “I didn’t crack. I just…”

“Threw up on one of the plants in the hotel lobby?”

“Yeah.”

Baekhyun snorted. “At least you had good aim.”

Jongdae wrapped an arm around Baekhyun and pulled him closer. He loosened his hold when he felt Baekhyun stiffen.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Baekhyun said, looking away. Jongdae let go of him and tried to back away, but Baekhyun stopped him with a hand on Jongdae’s thigh. “I’m just tired.”

Jongdae pulled Baekhyun into him, chest to chest. He brought his arms around Baekhyun’s broad back and squeezed. Baekhyun stiffened even more than before, but eventually he relaxed into Jongdae’s hold. It was a familiar position for them, one they had often taken in the beginning of their careers, when they really only had each other. Jongdae didn’t know why Baekhyun was reacting differently than normal. Baekhyun eventually returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Jongdae’s waist.

“Minseokie-hyung and I couldn’t do this without you. We’re so grateful to you. We’ll always be with you, no matter what.”

“You’re so cheesy,” Baekhyun murmured. “How do you just say things like that with a straight face?”

Their chests rose and fell together as they breathed. Jongdae let his hand come up to the back of Baekhyun’s head, fingers spreading to comb through his freshly washed hair.

“You want to tell me what you’re thinking about?” Jongdae asked.

“Lots of things. I’m a very thoughtful guy, you know.”

“I know, and it drives me crazy,” Jongdae said. “I never know what’s going on in that brain.”

“What are you talking about? I tell you everything. You know when I go see my family, what my shoe size is, how regular my bowel movements are…”

“You don’t let me know what’s really bothering you,” Jongdae complained. “I have to figure it out.”

“But you’re good at that,” Baekhyun said cutely. He pulled back so that Jongdae could see the lazy smile on his face.

The sun was filtering through the gap between the curtains. Baekhyun got up and pulled the curtains open. The street lamps were off and they could see the early signs of morning traffic as people began their commutes.

A few minutes later, Minseok came back from the gym. He showered quickly, and the three of them were ready to go when Hyunkyun knocked on their door.

\---

It took Jongdae three days to learn where each of their dancers grew up and what their favorite places to eat were. On day four, they flew to Changsha for their first variety show appearance, where Minseok showed off his soccer skills and won the hearts of moms and homemakers by demonstrating his cleaning skills. Baekhyun needed six days before he worked up the courage to ask Dongyu whether he could do his own makeup and have her do the finishing touches. By CBX’s second week of promotions, the senior performers smiled at them and complimented their new album.

Chen was looking forward to their third week the most. They were scheduled to appear on a show, perform two songs, chat a bit, and leave. Their first song would be “Work,” naturally, and their second song would be an acoustic arrangement of an old Mando-pop classic, which they would perform with Zhang Liyin.

Liyin greeted them at the practice studio when they arrived. Her bright smile mirrored Jongdae’s own.

“Good to see you,” she said in Korean. “You’re doing so well these days. It’s really great.”

“Thank you,” Chen said. “You’re doing well, too. Your last album was awesome.”

Since leaving SM Entertainment, Liyin had yet to come back to Korea. Chen kept in touch with her through apps and news from Zhou Mi, but they were no substitute to seeing her in person.

“Good to see you,” Liyin said to Xiumin. “It’s been too long.”

“Liyin-noona, we’re so glad to be here,” Xiumin said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Liyin said to Baekhyun. “I think this is the first time we’ve spoken to each other.”

“Yes,” Baekhyun said. “Nice to meet you. Please take care of us today.”

Baekhyun had a smile on his face, but it was suspiciously devoid of flirtation. Chen arched an eyebrow at him, but Liyin didn’t seem to notice.

Once they began rehearsing, they spoke in Mandarin, both for the lyrics and for conversation.

Baekhyun’s pronunciation, though improved since they first began promoting, was the weakest between him, Chen, and Xiumin. Chen doubted that anyone would have noticed this if not for Baekhyun insisting that Liyin correct their (mostly his) pronunciation.

“Liyin-jie, am I saying this right? Could you sing a little bit, so I can hear?” Baekhyun would say.

Effective as it was, and the three of them did sound and feel better, Liyin started to look a bit dazed after two hours of rehearsing.

“Let’s take a break,” Chen suggested. To his horror, Baekhyun looked like he wanted to keep going.

“Yeah, good idea,” Xiumin said. “Liyin-jie, thank you so much for helping us. Could you show me to the vending machine?”

“Oh, sure, it’s down the hallway.”

After Xiumin led Liyin out of the rehearsal studio, Chen turned to Baekhyun, who looked as innocent as a child.

“What’s gotten into you?” Chen asked in Korean.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re so… so…” Chen struggled for the word. “Hardworking,” he said, feeling as lame as the word sounded.

“It’s much better to rehearse with someone who’s fluent. We’ve got to take advantage of it. I didn’t realize what a difference it makes. Maybe we should teach Jiahui-noona how to sing.”

“I think she’d kill you if you tried…”

“No wonder you’re so good at Chinese,” Baekhyun said. “How many hours did you rehearse with Liyin-noona for ‘Breath?’”

“Days,” Chen said. It did wonders for his pronunciation, that was true, but he wasn’t quite as militant as Baekhyun was in soliciting feedback. “It’s just weird to see you so serious.”

“How did you rehearse with her? Didn’t you ask her for feedback, too?”

“Yeah, I guess… well, maybe not really.” Chen thought back. It had been several years now. “We sort of just… we would sing, and then Liyin-noona would point something out, and I would try again. I never really had to ask.”

“I did this all the time with Luhan,” Baekhyun reminded him. “You never said anything then.”

Chen remembered, but it had been weird, then, too.

Chen tried to think back to when Baekhyun had practiced with Luhan. It had been so long ago and so infrequent that it was hard to remember. Baekhyun had certainly never been this insistent with Luhan. But that made sense. When they had rehearsed with Luhan, there was always a performance director or an audio engineer, listening to them and leading them. Now they were much more experienced and, frankly, better. While the program director had given them a general idea of where he wanted them to go, for the most part, the performance was going to be their own creative expression.

It wasn’t as though Baekhyun had been rude to either Liyin or Luhan. No, he was always perfectly polite, respectful, grateful for the feedback, and receptive to it.

“Do you think I should stop?” Baekhyun asked, sounding as though he had been chastised, which wasn’t Chen’s intention.

“No, no! I think it’s been good. We’ve gotten a lot better, don’t you think?” Chen asked. Baekhyun nodded. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you,” Chen said.

Baekhyun bit his lower lip. “Thanks. Everything’s fine.”

Xiumin and Liyin came back with their arms full of what looked like all the snacks in the vending machine. Their managers gave them disapproving looks while handing out water bottles.

“This brings back memories,” Liyin said in Chinese. “You’re making me want to go to Korea.”

“Maybe we can take you with us,” Chen teased.

“Can you get me a visa?” Liyin asked.

“I have connections now, you know. I’ll give it a try,” Chen said.

Xiumin elbowed Chen in the ribs. He held out his bag of shrimp chips.

“Liyin-jie, I heard a rumor that you were going to be in a movie,” Xiumin said while Chen helped himself.

“Oh no. My manager tried really hard to keep that a secret, since nothing’s been finalized…”

“She has a boyfriend,” Baekhyun said to Chen in Korean, so softly that Chen barely heard him.

“I know that,” Chen said. “We were just talking.”

“Is that what the kids call it these days?”

Chen poked him in the stomach. “I don’t want to hear this from you, Mr. Flirt-With-Anyone-Who-Moves.”

They rehearsed for another hour before calling it a day. Liyin still had other obligations, but Jongdae, Minseok, and Baekhyun were officially off the clock and had the entire evening to themselves.

This was their first night off in China since arriving, and they unanimously agreed that they would spend it as couch potatoes.

_“What are you saying?”_

_“I’m saying I don’t want to see you again. You’re an eyesore.”_

_“…Fine. Take this back then.”_

_“That? You can keep it. It’s nothing to me.”_

“Doh Kyungsoo, you liar. That’s your dead mom’s ring,” Baekhyun said, who was nestled in the crook between the arm and back of the couch.

“Popcorn,” Minseok said, sharing the love seat with Jongdae.

Jongdae handed the bowl to him. “I bet he’s breaking it off because his boss realized that he was dating a high-profile government official, and he wanted Kyungsoo to exploit her so that their company could win the bid. Watch, his boss is going to make him get back together with her.”

Whether Jongdae was right would have to wait until next week, when the next episode of Kyungsoo’s latest drama would air.

 _Jongdae, 22:05: We just watched ep 5! Great job!_  
_Kyungsoo, 22:07: Thanks! I watched your_ Surprise Camera _broadcast, too. It was cool._  
_Kyungsoo, 22:08: Now go to sleep!_

“Kyungsoo is telling us to go to sleep,” Jongdae told the others.

“What? It’s barely ten,” Baekhyun said.

Minseok yawned loudly. “He’s got the right idea. I’m going to turn in.”

Minseok bid them good night and went to bed.

“Are you up for one more?” Jongdae asked Baekhyun. He half-expected Baekhyun to refuse, especially after the strange exchange they had at rehearsal today.

“One more,” Baekhyun said, much to Jongdae’s relief and joy. They hadn’t spent much time with just each other lately. Maybe that was the source of the strange tension between them.

Jongdae leaned over from where he was sitting so he could reach his laptop, which they had hooked up to the TV. He scrolled through his “to-watch” list on his hard drive, which had been piling up since promotions in China had started.

“What are you in the mood for?” Jongdae asked Baekhyun.

“Anything’s good.”

Jongdae chose a short Disney movie to round out the evening.

_“Long ago, in the faraway land of ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful gods…”_

Jongdae was about to sit back on the loveseat, but he thought about how silly it would be to sit so far away from the only other person watching the movie. He sat on the other end of the couch, opposite Baekhyun, as the Muses began explaining the backstory of Hercules.

_“And then along came Zeus!”_

_“He hurled his thunderbolt…”_

“Oh, Chen! It’s you!” Baekhyun said. He stretched out his legs across Jongdae’s knees.

“I regret choosing this now. Let’s change it,” Jongdae said, though he made no move to get up.

“No, don’t. I like it. I didn’t know it was biographical.”

Baekhyun’s legs bounced along with the music, and Jongdae tapped his fingers to beat on Baekhyun’s thighs. The story progressed to Hercules as a clumsy teenager with more strength than he could control.

“That’s D.O.,” Jongdae said.

“No,” Baekhyun said, after Hercules gave a discus back to a group of taunting kids. “D.O. wouldn’t have just given it back. He would have thrown it at their kneecaps.”

Halfway through the movie, Jongdae got up to refill the now empty bowl with sliced oranges instead of popcorn. While he was in the kitchen, he dug out two of the mugs that came with the suite and dropped a tea bag in each.

“What are you doing in there? You’re missing all the good parts,” Baekhyun called from the living room.

“What good parts?”

“They’re on a date now.”

Jongdae filled the mugs with hot water from the electric boiler and gripped both handles in one hand, his other hand carrying the bowl of oranges. He came back in time to watch Phil scold Hercules for skipping out on his schedule.

“Phil is Hyunkyun-hyung,” Baekhyun said, taking the mug from Jongdae.

“It’s herbal tea, so no caffeine,” Jongdae said.

“Thank you.”

Jongdae sat on Baekhyun’s legs, though he wasn’t using his full weight. Baekhyun squawked and folded up his legs so that Jongdae could sit down. Jongdae hooked his arm under Baekhyun’s knee and stretched his legs back over Jongdae’s lap so that Jongdae could rest the snack bowl on them.

_“No man is worth the aggravation. That’s ancient history, been there, done that.”_

_“Who’d you think you’re kidding? He’s the earth and heaven to you.”_

Baekhyun sat up and reached for the snack bowl. He sat next to Jongdae, shoulder to shoulder, swinging his legs over.

“Meg is you,” Baekhyun said, eyes on the screen.

“I thought I was Zeus.”

“No, Zeus is a deadbeat dad. Meg, on the other hand, has a great voice and a fabulous butt.”

It was almost midnight when the movie ended. Jongdae let his head rest on Baekhyun’s shoulder, one leg resting on Baekhyun’s leg. When they were close like this, Jongdae could feel Baekhyun’s chest rise and fall with each breath. Baekhyun could probably feel his, too. It was a shame to turn off the movie and go to sleep. They hadn’t watched a movie together like this in too long. Baekhyun and Jongdae let the credits roll and listened to the ending song, a rearrangement of one of the songs in the movie.

“I can go the distance,” Baekhyun sang softly in English.

Jongdae closed his eyes, listening to Baekhyun hum along to the song. “You’re good at that,” Jongdae said absentmindedly.

“At what?”

“Singing in English… or just singing.”

“Am I?” Baekhyun asked.

“Sure you are. Of course.”

“Don’t be jealous of anyone else’s singing. You’re not allowed to,” Baekhyun scolded.

“What are you talking about? You’re ridiculous…ly good at singing,” Jongdae teased. He opened his eyes and grinned at Baekhyun, who grinned back.

Baekhyun was attractive. Jongdae had always known that, but his attractiveness wasn’t what made Baekhyun special to Jongdae. From the moment they met, Baekhyun was funny and addicting to be around, and he never failed to make Jongdae smile. Jongdae was proud to be one of people Baekhyun was closest to. He was one of the few to see Baekhyun sleepy and at peace as he was now. They were good friends, Jongdae and Baekhyun, even when they were separated by the Yellow Sea.

“Tell me I’m the best,” Baekhyun said, eyes playful and mesmerizing. His lips were curled into a sly smile, impudently red even without lip color.

“You’re the worst,” Jongdae said.

“You’re the worst,” Baekhyun said, mimicking Jongdae’s voice.

“You really are.” He lifted a hand to Baekhyun’s cheek. “Baekhyun. We’re okay, right?”

“What do you mean?”

Jongdae almost didn’t want to say. He didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere. But Baekhyun had been oddly distant lately, so different from his usual affectionate self. Tonight felt so right, and it made Jongdae realize how much he missed having Baekhyun to himself. He stroked Baekhyun’s cheek with his thumb.

“Maybe it’s just my imagination, but… I feel like we’ve been different since we got to China. I just want to make sure I haven’t done anything… wrong?”

“You haven’t done anything,” Baekhyun said.

Jongdae waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “You can tell me anything,” Jongdae said. “You know that, right?”

Baekhyun covered Jongdae’s hand with his own. “Jongdae…” Jongdae could feel Baekhyun’s breath against his lips.

Maybe it was the lighting, or the serious tone that Jongdae had forced on them, but for a moment, Baekhyun looked sad.

“Are you guys still awake?”

There was a sudden pain in his chest, and then Jongdae found himself staring at the ceiling, back against the seat of the couch. Baekhyun had pushed him.

“We just finished the movie,” said Baekhyun.

Minseok’s sleepy face came into Jongdae’s field of vision. “You should go to sleep. We have an early start tomorrow,” Minseok said. He ducked into the bathroom.

Baekhyun took the bowl and mugs into the kitchen. Jongdae heard him turn on the faucet. “What, did I break you?” Baekhyun asked when he came back. Jongdae was still lying on his back.

Baekhyun took the bathroom when Minseok was done. He came out and dropped a towel on Jongdae’s face. “Bathroom’s free.”

Jongdae heard Baekhyun’s door close.

Jongdae sat up. His laptop was still on, though the screen had gone blank.

\---

Jongdae and Baekhyun’s relationship changed after that night. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say that it went back to normal. They still shared drinks, sat next to each other, and did homework together. Jongdae would still massage Baekhyun’s neck, and Baekhyun would still borrow Jongdae’s shirts. Whatever was holding Baekhyun back from his usual physical affection was gone, and now he was in Jongdae’s personal space more often than not.

Baekhyun was a physical person; everyone knew that. He had taken showers with all of the members of EXO-K and regularly walked around the dorm in nothing but underwear. In China, he snuggled with Minseok on the couch and walked arm-in-arm with Hyunkyun down the street.

This was what Jongdae wanted: Baekhyun touching him again without any stiffness or reluctance. This was normal.

This is what Chen told himself as Baekhyun laid his head in Chen’s lap for their summer-themed photoshoot during their fourth week. Baekhyun didn’t seem to mind that Chen was wearing thin shorts for the summer theme, but Chen definitely minded.

“Don’t make any sudden moves, or else this goes on your face,” Chen said in Korean, holding his ice cream threateningly over Baekhyun.

“Be nice,” Xiumin said, leaning on Chen’s shoulder.

“Ms. Director!” Baekhyun called in Chinese. “What flavor of ice cream does Chen have?”

“Blueberry,” the director answered.

“Is it because of his hair?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes.”

Baekhyun guffawed.

“Oh, good!” the director said. Flashes went off. “That’s it! Smile! You, too, Chen! Laugh!”

Baekhyun titled his head up at Chen. “Chenny-Chen,” he said in sing-song.

“Can we switch spots?” Chen asked Xiumin.

“Definitely not,” said Xiumin, eating his own ice cream cutely.

Baekhyun lifted his cone to Chen’s mouth. “Want some? Huh? Huh?” Baekhyun brought the cone down to his mouth and tilted his chin down to lick it. “It’s good. Give me some of yours, Chen.” Baekhyun tucked his head back against the inside of Jongdae’s bent knee and stuck out his tongue.

Chen had been trying very hard to not think about how he could acutely feel each of Baekhyun’s movements. When Baekhyun opened his mouth like that, Chen had a hard time thinking at all.

“Ms. Director, how are we doing?” Xiumin asked in Chinese.

“Good, good! Just a few more shots,” the director said. “And… we’re done! Thank you very much.”

“Ahh,” Baekhyun said, mouth open.

Since they were done, Chen didn’t feel quite as bad when he flicked the ice cream off his cone and onto Baekhyun’s nose.

“Hey!” Baekhyun spluttered. He sat up suddenly, causing the ice cream to roll off onto his shirt and onto the ground, leaving a blue streak behind. The cameras kept going off. Baekhyun whipped around and narrowed his eyes at Chen, who was laughing with Xiumin.

Chen didn’t notice Baekhyun retaliate until there was already a glob of cold vanilla ice cream on his forehead. It plopped onto his blue tank top, looking a mess. Baekhyun scooped it up and smeared it onto Xiumin’s shirt. Xiumin’s strawberry flavor ended up in Baekhyun’s hair.

“All right, all right! Now we’re done!” the director said. The staff was laughing, too.

CBX helped wipe up the mess they made with paper towels. Chen tried to get some of the ice cream out of Baekhyun’s hair, but it was already getting sticky as it dried. He was using a paper towel, but he was only making Baekhyun’s hair worse.

“Oh, gross. This is totally your fault,” Baekhyun said to Chen.

“I warned you,” Chen pointed out.

“You have ice cream on your face,” Baekhyun said.

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yours,” Baekhyun said. He wiped a bit off of Chen’s cheek with his thumb and brought it to his mouth. Chen could see the off-white of the ice cream against the redness of Baekhyun’s lips and tongue. “Jongdae? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Chen pushed Baekhyun back a little for good measure. It was a good thing that the shoot involved ice cream. Chen went to the cooler and stuck his face in it.

\---

Jongdae couldn’t tell Baekhyun.

Nothing good would come of Jongdae telling Baekhyun… what, exactly? That the last time Baekhyun crawled into Jongdae’s bed at night, he couldn’t sleep? That the next time Baekhyun teasingly blew him a kiss, the temptation to take Baekhyun and kiss him for real might prove too much? That Baekhyun was slowly but surely driving Jongdae crazy?

No, Jongdae couldn’t tell Baekhyun any of those things. Jongdae wanted to pretend that nothing had changed, but he was terrible at that. Instead, he did the next worst thing and simply avoided Baekhyun when he could. He sat next to Minseok and walked next to Hyunkyun. He kept the coffee table between him and Baekhyun when they did homework. It was the coward’s way out. Jongdae would have been ashamed of himself if he had stopped to think about it. Instead, all he could think about was Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was no fool. He must have noticed, but luckily, they were too busy to have time for much other than work. Baekhyun didn’t confront Jongdae, but he got a flat look on his face whenever he saw Jongdae avoid him. By week five, Baekhyun stopped touching him again. This time, Jongdae knew that it was definitely his fault. He opened his door one night to use the bathroom when he heard voices from the kitchen.

“He hasn’t told me anything,” said Minseok.

“But I’m not imagining it, right? You’ve noticed it, too. He doesn’t want to be around me,” said Baekhyun.

“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. The two of you are so close. Of course he wants to be around you.”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun said.

“…You should go to sleep. I’ll talk to him in the morning.”

To Minseok’s credit, he really did try to talk to Jongdae. In between schedules, during breaks, and at mealtimes, he would scoot next to Jongdae and try to bring up the subject. Unluckily for Minseok, they were always interrupted something or someone. Jongdae had no excuse to keep avoiding the subject, especially when he knew that he was making Baekhyun worry. But when Jongdae thought about what he would say and how Baekhyun might react, he couldn’t imagine a good outcome.

Things came to a head the night before their final performance. Since Jongdae had managed to put off the conversation for that long, he decided to let the issue lie until they returned to Korea. There, he and Baekhyun would have more escape routes if and when things became awkward.

That night, in the hotel, Minseok sat next to Jongdae on the couch pointedly. Jongdae was listening to music with his earbuds in.

“Jongdae-ah.”

“Minseokie-hyung. What’s up?”

“Do you have a minute?”

Before Jongdae could answer, Baekhyun came over and pulled his earbuds out.

“Hey.”

Jongdae expected Baekhyun to be pulling a prank, but when Jongdae looked at him, Baekhyun’s eyes were serious, betraying his casual stance.

“I have to tell you guys something,” Baekhyun said. But instead of saying anything, he simply held out his phone, which showed his Instagram messages.

_April 12_

_Hello Baekhyun, it’s Luhan. I suppose you already knew that! I heard you, Jongdae, and Minseok were coming to Beijing for a while. Let’s try to meet up! It’s been too long, and I would really like to see you all. I’ll have my management talk to yours, and we can figure something out. Please pass this message along to Jongdae and Minseok and tell them I say hello._

_Hi Luhanee-hyung! When are you free?_

_I can’t be sure, but could we say around mid-July? We’ll have to cross-check our schedules, of course._

_Right. Let’s check with management first._

_July 14_

_Hi Baekhyun! Sorry for the long wait. I’ve finally cleared my schedule, and it looks like we’ll be able to meet up tomorrow for lunch, right before you guys leave. I know that it’s last minute, but it’ll be my treat! Tell Minseok and Jongdae to order whatever they want!_

Looking back, Minseok had been so happy. Whooping with happiness, he took out his phone to text Luhan immediately, as though the last time he had done so wasn’t years ago, with a different phone and a different number. His smile was bright and wide. In retrospect, Jongdae wished he had been more considerate of Minseok, but instead he reacted by instinct, and reacted badly.

“It says Luhan-hyung sent the first message on April 12,” Jongdae said to Baekhyun. “Why are you telling us now?”

“We’re seeing him tomorrow.”

“I’m asking,” Jongdae bit out, “why you didn’t tell us three months ago.”

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up just for plans to fall through. We’re both busy.”

“We’re not children. You’re not our manager,” Jongdae said, voice rising.

“I didn’t realize you missed Luhan so much. Sorry. I know it must have been hard without him,” Baekhyun said, voice dangerously soft.

“Are you serious? Are you really going there?” Jongdae demanded. “This isn’t about you. Or is it? Is that why you didn’t say anything? Because you were jealous?” Jongdae laughed, incredulous.

“Jongdae, it’s okay,” Minseok said. His phone was away. Jongdae never found out if he sent Luhan that message. “Calm down.” Minseok put his hand on Jongdae’s arm, trying to soothe him. Jongdae yanked his arm away, but he knew Minseok was right. He had to calm down. He had to breathe.

“I’m not happy that you kept this from us,” Jongdae said, trying to talk things out.

Baekhyun would have none of it. “I told you, I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I didn’t want Luhan to flake and leave you two brokenhearted. You’re right though. I’m crazy. There’s no way Luhan would ever do that. I’ve never had to clean up one of his messes before.”

For a moment, Jongdae thought he might throw a punch. If Minseok wasn’t there, he might have.

“Sorry,” Jongdae echoed. “That must have been so hard for you. Easier than learning Chinese though, I’m sure.”

Baekhyun punched him in the jaw. Jongdae’s head snapped back, but he barely felt the hit. Minseok held Jongdae back from retaliating, but it was unnecessary. The cold fury on Baekhyun’s face was like ice down Jongdae’s back.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae said. Baekhyun used all one centimeter of height he had on Jongdae to sneer. The effect was lost, though. Baekhyun was so clearly hurt. “Baekhyun, I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun retreated to his room without another word and closed the door.

The next day, the tension was at a peak. Jongdae hoped it was, at least. He didn’t think things could get worse. Baekhyun had woken up first, uncharacteristic of him. He was in the gym for most of the morning, timing his return so that he could disappear into the shower and be done in time for Hyunkyun to pick them up. Jongdae had sat at the kitchen table, watching Baekhyun go about his business, resolutely ignoring him.

When ChenBaekXi arrived at the music show studio, the staff mistook their grave faces for sadness that they had to leave. The staff gave them a grand sendoff, scheduling them for two stages. The artists who had shared their promotion cycles were genuinely sad to see them go. Chen exchanged numbers and promises to keep in touch with them.

Given everything that happened last night, it was amazing that their final performance was their best, by far. The mics worked the entire time, Xiumin timed his breathing properly, Chen sang his high notes comfortably, and Baekhyun’s pronunciation was perfect.

Chen felt terrible, but he had given his apologies last night, and it was up to Baekhyun to accept them or not. Xiumin, caught in between, spent most of his time by Baekhyun’s side, shooting Chen some meaningful stares here and there.

“…Lunch. Guys?”

Hyunkyun picked them up this morning, assuming that Baekhyun had given them the news and they had reacted appropriately. He probably expected Minseok and Jongdae to be in a good mood. Instead, he got awkward smiles and forced reactions. It had only gotten worse in the car, when Minseok had gently asked him why they hadn’t been told sooner.

“Baekhyun and I thought it would be better to wait until everything was confirmed,” Hyunkyun had said.

Baekhyun had stared out the window of the car, silent.

The ride to the restaurant for their celebratory lunch was just as awkward and quiet. They parked the car in the parking structure. Jongdae was about to get out of the car when Hyunkyun stopped him. Baekhyun and Minseok were already out.

“What’s going on?”

Jongdae just shook his head. “Nothing. You’re picking us up at two?”

They had reserved a private room where Luhan was waiting for them. After Luhan left, Jongdae would daydream about meeting him again. In his fantasies, Chen was usually wildly successful and handsome, sweeping Luhan off his feet. None of his fantasies featured Jongdae with blue hair. It felt surreal, watching Baekhyun shake Luhan’s hand with a forced smile.

“Jongdae-ah!” Luhan gave Jongdae a one-armed hug. “So good to see you,” Luhan said in Korean.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Jongdae said.

Minseok could barely contain himself. “Lu-ge,” he said. Luhan gave him full-bodied hug, not letting go even when the hug dragged on.

Luhan sat next to Minseok, which left Baekhyun and Jongdae to sit next to each other.

“I’m sorry that this took so long to plan,” Luhan said.

“No, thank you for planning this,” Minseok said.

“Did you change your number?” Luhan asked Minseok. “I had to go through poor Baekhyun as the middle man for all this.”

“I did change my number,” Minseok said. “I never told you.”

Luhan exchanged numbers with all of them now.

“Your album is really good,” said Luhan. “Jongdae, you wrote the music and lyrics for one of the songs, didn’t you? ‘Back to Back.’”

“Just the Korean lyrics,” Jongdae said. “Zhou Mi-ge wrote the Chinese lyrics.”

“Well, it sounds really good.”

“Thank you.”

“Luhan-hyung, can we order Peking duck?” asked Baekhyun.

“Of course. One for each of us? Like old times?” said Luhan.

“You shouldn’t promise things unless you’re willing to pay up,” Baekhyun warned. “We’ll eat you out of house and home. You’ll be doing dishes here in between schedules for the rest of your life.”

Luhan gave their order to the waitress, who stayed admirably professional. Jongdae noticed that she was wearing a necklace with the EXO symbol.

“I saw you playing soccer on _Happy Camp_ ,” Luhan said to Minseok. “Do you still play?”

“Once in a while. I tried to get Jongin into it, but he’s so busy.”

“What about Jongdae and Baekhyun?”

“All they do is sing and play computer games,” Minseok sighed.

“I have a good excuse,” Baekhyun said. “I’m allergic to soccer.”

“And you, Jongdae?” Luhan asked, smiling. “What’s your excuse?”

“Um.” Jongdae had picked up video games as a way to spend more time with Baekhyun, who was currently sipping his soup. He certainly couldn’t say that now.

“You weren’t bad at soccer, if I remember right,” Luhan said.

“Chen’s been practicing a lot in preparation for our concert,” Minseok said.

“Oh, Yixing told me that you might come to Beijing,” Luhan said.

“We don’t know yet,” Baekhyun said.

“Well, if you do, I’ll treat all of you.” The waiters came in then, with a plate of duck per person. “Maybe not to a duck each, though.” The waiters barely hid their grins.

The food was delicious, but it was difficult to appreciate at the time. The more Jongdae thought about last night, the more he regretted. Part of him didn’t want to see Luhan, and the other part of him wanted to see Luhan too much. As a result, Jongdae had overreacted, and Baekhyun was probably bewildered as to why. Ironically, with Luhan sitting right in front of him now, Jongdae could only think about how he could make things up with Baekhyun.

“You’re doing so well,” Luhan said at one point.

“So are you,” Minseok said. “I’m happy.”

Hyunkyun gave them a call shortly before he was to pick them up. Their first waitress came back with the bill, which Luhan took and paid for with his card. The light reflected off of her necklace when she bent to return the receipt.

“Do you want a picture?” Jongdae said to the waitress in Mandarin. She looked surprised and then delighted.

“Is it really okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Jongdae said. Management wouldn’t have approved of them meeting Luhan unless they were prepared for the meeting to become public news.

The waitress had her co-worker take the picture. They gathered in close to fit in frame. Baekhyun’s hair tickled Jongdae’s cheek.

The three of them said goodbye to Luhan after getting their leftovers packed up. They had to walk through the back entrance of the kitchen to get to the parking lot to get through without drawing a crowd. Jongdae had dropped his wallet and had to duck under the table to find it. By the time he came back up, Minseok and Baekhyun were outside the room, bowing to the wait staff. Jongdae got up to join them, but Luhan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Jongdae, wait.”

Outside, Baekhyun said something to make Minseok and the wait staff laugh.

“Yes?” Jongdae said to Luhan.

“Um…”

It occurred to Jongdae that the last time they were alone like this, they had kissed, or, more accurately, Jongdae had kissed Luhan. He felt a sudden rush of embarrassment and regret.

“Thanks for inviting us to lunch,” Jongdae said.

“No worries. It was fun,” Luhan said.

They paused, waiting for the other to say something. “Uh,” they said at the same time.

Jongdae laughed, and Luhan joined in.

“It’s funny,” Jongdae said. “I had so many things I wanted to say to you, but now that I have the chance, nothing comes out.”

“Yeah,” Luhan said. “I feel the same way.”

“Sorry for kissing you,” Jongdae blurted.

Luhan giggled. “It’s fine. I was flattered,” Luhan said.

“I’m mortified whenever I think about that,” Jongdae admitted.

“Hey. Watch it.”

Jongdae grinned at him. Just for a moment, his heart felt lighter.

“I should go,” Jongdae said.

“Yeah. Have a good flight.”

Jongdae opened the door into the hallway. Baekhyun and Minseok were waiting for him at one end, and Luhan was leaving through the other. Luhan gave him a hug before leaving.

“Hey, Luhan-hyung. I remembered something I wanted to say. Uh.” Jongdae swallowed. “Thanks for everything, and good luck.”

Luhan smiled and ducked his head. “You too, Chen.”

\---

Jongdae’s good mood after his conversation with Luhan quickly evaporated once they got back in the car. Baekhyun was talking again, at least, but he was still ignoring Jongdae and wouldn’t address him directly. For their flight back, they rearranged the seats so that Baekhyun sat between Hyunkyun and Jiahui in one row, leaving Minseok with Jongdae and an empty seat.  
Minseok waited until half an hour into the flight before saying anything. He signaled that a Tough Conversation was about to happen with a deep breath.

“I have to talk to him,” Jongdae said, hoping to cut it off.

“Yeah. But do you know what you’re going to say?” Minseok asked.

“I’ve got an idea, yeah.” It mostly consisted of groveling.

Minseok was quiet for a moment. He took a sip from the cup of water resting on the seat tray. “Can I ask you something serious?”

“Go for it.”

Their flight was scheduled to land at eleven in the evening, local time. The other passengers on the flight were sleeping, watching a movie, or getting work done. It felt like Jongdae and Minseok were the only ones talking.

“Did something happen between you and Baekhyun in Beijing? Not- not that,” Minseok added quickly. “Before that. You guys were… I don’t know, kind of weird before that. I mean, not weird, but… different. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Jongdae didn’t want to answer, but silence would be just as revealing. “Not really,” Jongdae said.

Minseok frowned. He bit his lower lip as if he was wondering if he could say what he was thinking. Jongdae was afraid of what it could be, considering how close to the truth he was already.

“Nothing happened between us,” Jongdae said.

“You started to avoid him,” Minseok pointed out. “Maybe the fact that nothing happened was the problem.”

Jongdae looked away from Minseok, whose eyes saw too much.

“I know it’s none of my business, but I think you guys need to be honest with each other,” Minseok said. “That’s what I think, speaking as your friend and Baekhyun’s friend.”

Jongdae looked at Minseok and saw his eyes, big and serious. “I’m so sorry, Minseokie-hyung. I ruined everything, didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t,” Minseok said. He wrapped an arm around Jongdae’s shoulder.

“What if he hates me?” Jongdae whispered.

“Baekhyun could never hate you,” Minseok said.

Jongdae let his head rest on Minseok’s shoulder. He wished he had Minseok’s confidence.

“Thanks, Minseokie-Hyung. Sorry you have to put up with all this.”

Minseok squeezed Jongdae tight. “We’re a team, Jongdae. Chen and Xiumin. We’ll always be a team.”

\---

Kyungsoo opened the door for them at the dorm. “Welcome back,” he said.

Jongdae put his things away quickly, not bothering to unpack yet. He caught Baekhyun on the way back to his room.

“Baekhyun, could we--”

Baekhyun didn’t wait for him to finish. He walked by Jongdae and closed the door to his room.

“What was that about?” Kyungsoo, who was sitting in the living room, had seen the exchange. “You guys haven’t said a word to each other since you got back.”

It was almost a full day since Baekhyun had talked to Jongdae. This was the longest they had gone without speaking, at least while they in the same country.

“I fucked up,” Jongdae admitted. “Really badly. I need to make it up to him.”

“It’s going to be tough, since we’re booked tomorrow. Should Minseok-hyung and I give you some space? Maybe you can talk to him now,” Kyungsoo suggested.

Jongdae thought about it. Baekhyun was probably wearing his noise-cancelling headphones right now, clicking his mouse at a rapid pace.

“No. I’ll have to wait until we have a break or something. We have to get up early tomorrow, anyway. I can’t just kick you guys out.”

Kyungsoo frowned. Then he got up and walked to Baekhyun’s door. “Baekhyun,” he said, knocking on the door. “Open up.”

“Kyungsoo! What are you—“

The door swung in, and Baekhyun poked his head out. “What?”

“Jongdae needs to talk to you.”

Baekhyun glanced at Jongdae before glaring at Kyungsoo. “Can it wait?”

“We’re all pretty booked tomorrow,” Kyungsoo reminded Baekhyun.

“We have breaks. Talk to me then. I’m busy right now.” He closed the door in Kyungsoo’s face.

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows for a moment before setting his jaw with quiet determination. He raised his fist to knock on the door again, but Jongdae grabbed his hand.

“It’s okay, Kyungsoo. I appreciate it, but I’ll just talk to him tomorrow. He’d probably bite my head off if I tried to talk to him now.”

“What’s gotten into you two?” Kyungsoo asked. He stared at Jongdae with suspicion. “At least when you fight, you’re loud. Not like this, hiding in rooms and walking on eggshells.”

Minseok came out of the room he shared with Jongdae. Jongdae was too ashamed to look at him.

“Kyungsoo, can I talk to you?”

“Sure, hyung,” Kyungsoo said. “Let’s hide in my room. I hear it’s the trend these days.” Minseok followed him into Kyungsoo’s room, leaving Jongdae standing outside Baekhyun’s door. Jongdae pawed at the door and then laughed at himself, feeling like he was in the doghouse.

\---

Yixing flew back the next morning to join them all for concert preparations, which spared Jongdae and Baekhyun most of the spotlight. Jongdae tried not to let the tension between then bleed onto the other members, and Baekhyun did the same, using his boisterous energy as usual. Still, Kyungsoo shot Jongdae knowing looks, and Minseok kept trying to shepherd Baekhyun and Jongdae together before the work day truly began.

“How’s your Chinese?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun while they waited for the production staff to arrive at the practice studio. “It sounded pretty good during that hidden camera broadcast you guys did. You guys went viral, you know.”

“Oh, that? My Chinese was terrible then,” Baekhyun said. “Lucky that I was wearing a disguise. Of all the things to go viral… My skin was so bad, too.”

“Chen, what’s up?” Lay clasped hands with Chen and pulled him in for a hug. “I heard you guys met up with Luhan,” Lay said in Mandarin.

“Yeah, we had lunch,” Chen responded in Mandarin.

The other members made a show of being very impressed at the conversation. Lay rolled his eyes. “Can’t let you forget your Chinese,” he said to Chen.

“No, definitely not,” Chen said. “Now we can talk about them and they won’t know.”

“We can hear you,” Xiumin said in Chinese.

“I’m surrounded,” said Sehun, feigning distress. “Baekhyun-hyung, teach me Chinese so I know what they’re all saying.”

Baekhyun flinched for the briefest second. Nobody else seemed to notice, since the production staff arrived at that moment.

Chen wanted to say something, anything, to Baekhyun then, but Baekhyun stood at the other side of the room from him and had no intention of coming closer.

Today would begin with group rehearsal for one of their off-title tracks, and then people would split up into their individual schedules. This performance required Chen and Baekhyun to harmonize. Chen was worried about how it would go, and it showed in a lackluster performance that puzzled Shim Jaewon, their performance director.

“Chen, Baekhyun, could you try it again? Something isn’t right,” Jaewon said.

A sharp fission of shame ran through Chen. Because they harmonized in multiple parts, they had to run through the song from the beginning, which took almost three and a half minutes.

“Technically, you guys are fine,” said Jaewon after the second run through. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Maybe they could make eye contact for the bridge,” D.O. suggested. “For chemistry.” The other members nodded. Chen’s guilt intensified. So much for hiding the tension.  
Chen glanced at Baekhyun, who was chewing his lower lip.

“Let’s try it,” Jaewon said.

They took it from the top. The choreography had Baekhyun and Chen on opposite ends of the stage for most of the time. Their awkwardness could be hidden during the verse and chorus, but the bridge brought them together to the front of the stage.

As Chen walked past Baekhyun to get into position, they glanced at each other at the same time, and then quickly looked away. Shaking his head, Chen tried to lose himself in the opening instrumentals. Xiumin had the first line, and then Suho. Then it was Baekhyun.

_I didn’t want to be so invested  
I played it cool and then I overdressed it_

_You were there, I was tired of this  
Nonsense when you pretend you don’t_

D.O. had the pre-chorus, with Chen singing some of the background vocals.

_Get me, feel me, want me  
Like me, love me, need me_

The chorus was next. They all principally sang the chorus, but Chen could pick out Baekhyun’s voice and focus on it as if it were just them. They were both in the back for this part of the song. Chen decided to throw caution to the wind and look at Baekhyun to his heart’s content.

_You can’t stop desire, oh oh oh oh  
Stop desire, oh oh oh oh_

Once he started looking, Chen didn’t want to stop. He had been deprived of Baekhyun for the past day and a half, and even this simple pleasure of looking at Baekhyun made Chen sing with more joy and energy. Chen could feel and hear the difference in his voice. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he thought he heard Baekhyun respond in kind.

Finally, it was the bridge, which brought them forward. Baekhyun turned his head and was visibly surprised to see Chen drinking in the sight of him.

_Right where I want you, back against the wall_   
_Trust when I promise, never let you fall_   
_Right where I want you, back against the wall_   
_You can trust me, never let you fall_

Then the bridge was over, and Baekhyun looked away. Chen’s insides turned cold, and he avoided looking at Baekhyun for the rest of the song. Nevertheless, Jaewon was satisfied and called rehearsal to a close.

The members began to split off for their individual activities. Chen would stay onsite to work with Jaewon for his solo. Baekhyun was scheduled to make an appearance on _Sunny’s Radio Play_ with Kai. If Chen didn’t talk to him now, he wouldn’t get another chance until the end of the day.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae called.

Baekhyun met eyes with him.

“Chen, I was hoping we could decide on a song today. Did you have a chance to look at the portfolio I sent you?”

Jaewon appeared in front of Chen, blocking his line of sight to Baekhyun. Baekhyun turned and left the studio. It was only for a second, but Chen saw what looked like fear in Baekhyun’s eyes. The thought gnawed at him.

Jaewon and Chen spent most of the time going through the list of proposed songs, playing them on the piano to accompany Chen as he sang. There were rock and EDM songs, as well as ballads from EXO and other artists. None of them felt quite right, but Jaewon didn’t seem discouraged.

“It’s all right. You’ve done a lot of this stuff. Maybe you’re looking for something new? How about trot? Or something from a musical?”

“Maybe the song by Queen?” Chen suggested.

“You did a Maroon 5 song for the last concert, though. Would that be too much western music?” Jaewon said.

They were in the middle of going over a new composition by Kenzie when Chen’s phone rang. Jaewon raised his eyebrows.

“I’m so sorry,” Chen said. He normally turned his phone to silent while he was working. “I must have forgotten to turn off the ringer…” He went over to his bag and dug out his phone. The screen read _Junmyeon_. Chen declined the call and was in the process of turning his phone off when a text message from Suho appeared.

_Please pick up your phone_

Another call came through. Chen picked it up this time, mouthing apologies to Jaewon, who politely looked away.

“Hello?” Chen said.

“Jongdae?” It was Suho.

“Yes, hyung? What is it? I’m in the middle of a session with Jaewon-hyung.”

“Oh, you are? Sorry.”

“It’s fine. What’s going on?” Chen asked. He tried to remember what Suho was scheduled for.

“Jongdae, I just heard from Jongin that Baekhyun fainted at their radio show appearance. …Jongdae?”

Jongdae blinked. His blood was pounding in his ears. It was hard to hear. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, they’ve gotten him off camera. It was bad luck that today was a viewable radio session… anyway, I just wanted you to find out from me and not someone else.”

“Right,” said Jongdae. “Yeah, that makes sense. How’s Jongin?”

“…He’s a trooper,” Junmyeon said. “He’s trying to carry on.”

“Right. Okay.”

“Jongdae, are you okay?” Junmyeon asked.

“I’m fine. Where are you, hyung?”

“I’m about to start shooting for _Happy Together_.”

“Oh, okay,” said Jongdae. Jongdae ran that through his head a few times, but he couldn’t make sense of it. “Thanks for telling me, hyung.”

“Jongdae, are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, hyung. I’ve got to go.”

Jongdae hung up. He turned to Jaewon. “Jaewon-hyung, I’m sorry, but I can’t continue today. Baekhyun’s fainted.”

Jaewon reacted to this news much better than Jongdae had. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know,” Jongdae said. “I’ve got to go.”

“Chen, wait. I’m sure Baekhyun’s all right. Hyunkyun’s with him, isn’t it? We’ve got to choose a song for your solo today,” Jaewon said. He spoke slowly, as if trying to calm Jongdae down. It had the opposite effect.

“I’m really sorry, Jaewon-hyung, but I’m not going to get anything else done today. We can cancel my solo if we have to.”

Jongdae grabbed his bag with one hand and called Baekhyun on his phone with the other. He walked blindly out of the rehearsal studio, trying to think of the fastest way to get to where _Sunny’s Radio Play_ was recorded.

“Baekhyun, pick up,” Jongdae said when the call went to voice mail. He texted the same message.

Jongdae was in the elevator bank when he realized that he didn’t have his car with him, since he had commuted with Minseok and the others. Minseok’s car was likely in the parking structure, but Jongdae didn’t have keys.

Jongdae called Jongin with his phone and let it ring while he walked back to the office space. People were at the desks and cubicles, hard at work. He spotted Ahreum, one of EXO’s senior managers who rarely had to taxi them around anymore. Hopefully, she had driven today.

“Ahreum-noona. Can you drive me to KBS?”

“Oh, Jongdae! You got back from China!” Ahreum said. “KBS? Why do you need to go there?”

Jongdae debated whether or not to tell her. “Baekhyun and Jongin are recording for _Sunny’s Radio Play_. I’m done with Jaewon-hyung today and want to go support them,” Jongdae said. None of it was a lie, and Jongdae hoped he would be spared the coddling he received from Jaewon.

“Oh, that’s nice of you. I’m a bit busy…”

“I’m so sorry, noona, but I didn’t drive today, and I really want to go see them. Baekhyun’s been looking tired lately,” said Jongdae, appealing to Ahreum’s motherly side.

It worked. Within minutes, they were pulling out of the parking structure. From the rehearsal studio to KBS was fifteen minutes. Jongdae called Jongin again, hoping that they were on break and Jongin could pick up.

“Jongin, pick up.” Jongdae left another voice mail. He called Hyunkyun next, which also went to voice mail.

Ahreum was trying to make small talk but soon gave up. “Is everything all right, Jongdae? Hyunkyun told me things went really well for you in Beijing.”

Jongdae felt as though he was in an alternate universe where nobody picked up their phones and Junmyeon thought filming _Happy Together_ was more important than Baekhyun’s health. “I’m fine, I’m just worried about Baekhyun.”

“Oh, you’re sweet. He’s lucky to have a friend like you, you know.”

“Thanks, noona. Um, I normally wouldn’t ask you to do this, but do you think you could fudge the speed limit a little?”

It felt like hours had passed when they finally arrived at KBS. Jongdae greeted security, who knew him, and left Ahreum to work out the details. He made a mental note to get Ahreum a gift later.

Jongdae rode the elevator up to Sunny’s booth. He expected for the fans to be cleared out, but he could hear them when the elevator doors opened. Jongdae’s stomach turned at the thought of a large crowd witnessing Baekhyun fainting.

“Is Baekhyun all right?” Jongdae asked the security guard, who let him through to the recording booth. The security guard gave him a puzzled look.

“The booth is around the corner to your left,” the guard said.

Jongdae hurried. He went into the engineering room, where the production staff saw him coming and greeted him. Jongdae greeted them quickly in return.

“Where’s Baekhyun?” he asked.

“Right this way,” the producer said, gesturing to the sound booth. From his vantage point, Jongdae could see Sunny, who waved to him, looking surprised.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m not here for the show.” Jongdae looked around and saw Hyunkyun, standing near the door to the hallway. “Hyunkyun-hyung, where’s Baekhyun?

Hyunkyun only smiled and pointed to the sound booth, which infuriated Jongdae, who was already frustrated. He left the engineering room and went back into the hallway.

“Baekhyun-ah?” Jongdae called. “Baekhyun-ah?”

“Hey, we’re recording a show here. Could you keep it down?”

Jongdae turned around. Baekhyun was standing in the doorway of the engineering room. Behind him, the door to the sound booth was open, where Jongin, Sunny, and Junmyeon were sitting, and behind them, today’s live crowd. Everyone was laughing.

Jongdae didn’t care who was there. All he could feel was relief. He took Baekhyun in his arms and hugged him.

“Jongdae-ah,” Baekhyun said in his ear. “You have to laugh, too. That’s how these things work.”

Jongdae only hugged Baekhyun tighter, nuzzling his neck. Baekhyun hugged Jongdae back just as tightly.

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae whispered.

“I’m sorry, too,” Baekhyun said.

Baekhyun brushed away Jongdae’s tears and gave him a quick kiss on the head where the cameras couldn’t see. He took Jongdae by the hand and dragged him into the sound booth, where Junmyeon, Jongin, and Sunny were smiling, not looking the least bit sorry. Baekhyun pushed Jongdae into the seat next to Baekhyun and then put a headset over Jongdae’s ears.

“Please welcome EXO’s Chen!” Sunny said.

The others clapped.

“Introduce yourself to our listeners, please.”

Jongdae took a deep breath. “Hello, I’m EXO’s Chen.” Then he burst out laughing.

The others joined in.

“That was amazing!” Sunny said. “Chen-sshi, you really had no idea?”

“Like I said earlier,” Kai said. “Chen-hyung is way too nice.”

“Suho-sshi, could you explain… Oh, no! Chen-sshi looks so exhausted! Chen-sshi, are you okay?” Sunny asked.

“Yes, I’m okay,” Chen said. He pushed his palms into his eyes and laughed again, though it came out as half a sob. Baekhyun put a hand on Chen’s back and rubbed it in slow circles.

“Suho-sshi, why don’t you tell poor Chen-sshi what’s going on?”

“Yes. So this morning, our members had rehearsal as usual – I’ll brush over some of the details we explained to the listeners in the beginning of the show – today, Chen was the only one with an individual schedule. We heard from Xiumin that Chen and Baekhyun had a fight in China, so we arranged a prank where all the members knew what was going to happen except for Chen and Baekhyun.”

“I had nothing to do with this,” Baekhyun said.

“I tried to call you,” Chen said to Baekhyun.

“They took away my phone,” Baekhyun pouted. Suho held up the phone in question and turned on the lock screen, showing the number of missed calls and texts from Jongdae.

“What was the fight about?” Sunny asked.

“Nothing important,” Baekhyun said. “Just a normal argument that happens between people who spend a lot of time together. But Chen and I rarely fight, so when we do, it’s a big deal.”

“They normally shout at each other,” Kai added. “But D.O. said that this time, they wouldn’t say a word to each other.”

“So we told Chen that Baekhyun had a schedule with just Kai today, and Baekhyun thought the same thing,” Suho said.

“I thought the same thing!” Sunny said. “Then my producer told me that Suho-sshi would be joining us.”

“Yes, thank you, Sunny-noona! I was supposed to have a day off today. We were lucky that you were willing to accommodate us.”

“You’re very welcome. This was really heartwarming! So Chen-sshi, the way it came up was that I asked who the most caring member of EXO was,” Sunny said.

“Yes, and all three of us agreed that it was Chen,” Kai said. “And we bet that if we told Chen that one of us got hurt, then he would rush over here even though he has concert preparations to worry about. Suho called Chen here in the studio, since Chen didn’t think Suho was at the radio show.”

“He probably thought I was a cold bastard for not rushing to Baekhyun’s side like he did,” Suho said, laughing.

“We timed him, you know! It took Chen fifteen minutes from getting the call to getting to studio!” Sunny showed Chen her phone, which displayed the timer. “If the police are listening, please excuse Chen-sshi’s speeding.”

“How’d you get here, Chen?” Suho asked.

“I had Ahreum-noona, a manager, drive me. I made her leave her work,” Chen said, laughing at himself. “Was she in on it, too?”

“She wasn’t actually,” Suho said. “You’ll have to make it up to her later. But Jaewon-hyung was, so don’t worry about him.”

“We’re going to try to get Jaewon-sshi on the phone right now,” Sunny said.

“Oh no,” Chen said.

The phone rang a few times, and then Jaewon’s voice filtered through the headset.

“Hello?”

“Jaewon-sshi?” Sunny said.

“Oh, Sunny! Sunny-sshi! Hello!” Jaewon said.

“We have Chen-sshi in the studio with us now,” Sunny said.

“Hi Chen,” Jaewon said. Chen could hear the grin in his voice.

“We just told Chen-sshi everything,” Sunny said. “Chen-sshi got the call when he was working with you, and he had to rudely leave the session, but you knew everything, right?”

“Yes, I did. I helped by turning his phone to ring. He normally silences his phone during practice,” Jaewon said.

“Did you go through his bag, hyung?” Kai asked.

“Yes. It was really hard to look at him without laughing,” Jaewon said.

Chen groaned while everyone else laughed except for Baekhyun, who just smiled.

“But there’s something I want people to know. As soon as Chen got the call, he told me he had to leave because Baekhyun had fainted. Now, I knew that Baekhyun was really all right, but I had to play along. I told Chen that he couldn’t leave because we had to decide on the song for his solo performance for EXO’s concert.”

“Oh, hyung, please don’t say it,” Chen begged.

“And Chen said that he couldn’t get anything else done today, and to just cancel his solo performance if it came to that.”

Chen buried his face in his arms so that he could muffle his scream of agony. The studio filled with cooing and other noises of sympathy.

“Chen-sshi is really caring,” Sunny said.

“Yes, very,” Jaewon said. “But he’s also really professional and courteous. He’s never walked out on me like that before, so I could tell that this was a big deal to him. He didn’t know it was all fake!”

Chen wanted the ground to open and swallow him up.

“Well, thank you for calling in and sharing that with us,” Sunny said.

“My pleasure. I’ll see everyone back in the studio later. We still have to choose your song, Chen! Goodbye, everyone!”

“Wow,” Sunny said after Jaewon disconnected. “We must have said this a thousand times already, but this was really amazing. Also, I promise that we will never do this again, so don’t worry, Chen-sshi! For the people listening, Chen-sshi’s face was really shaken when he first came in. Were you worried?”

“Yes, I was,” Chen said. “And nobody was picking up their phones.” He glared at Kai, who gave him a thumbs up.

“So you thought the worst. You really care about Baekhyun-sshi, don’t you?” Sunny asked.

“Ah…”

“He cares about all of us,” Baekhyun said, jumping in quickly. “Unfortunately, sometimes we really do get hurt when we’re performing, and Chen-sshi is the first to be at that person’s side.”

Sunny nodded but continued to look at Chen for an answer.

“Baekhyun and I are very close,” Chen said finally. A lump formed in his throat.

“That’s all you need to say,” Sunny said. “My group, Girls’ Generation, we get in fights sometimes, too. We’re so close, and we really care about each other, but we also know how to hurt each other. We always make up by saying how much we love each other. That’s the most important thing for us.”

While Sunny was talking, Baekhyun took Chen’s hand under the desk. They held onto each other until the end of the show.

\---

The dorm was deserted when Baekhyun and Jongdae got home from dinner. As much as Jongdae wanted to talk to Baekhyun, he had built up a lot of sweat throughout the day and needed to shower.

Jongdae was in the middle of shampooing his hair when the door to the shower opened. Baekhyun stepped into the stall and closed the door behind him. He was naked. Baekhyun interlocked his fingers with Jongdae’s and washed his hair for him.

“Close your eyes,” Baekhyun said. Jongdae obeyed and let Baekhyun move his head into the spray of the shower head to rinse. He opened his eyes when Baekhyun let go and saw Baekhyun shampooing his own hair. Jongdae waited for Baekhyun to rinse his hair.

“Why are you just standing there? You’re going to get all prune-y,” Baekhyun said. He reached for the soap bar and lathered his hands.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing?” Jongdae asked. He looked only at Baekhyun’s eyes, afraid to look elsewhere.

“I’m showering with you.” He put his hands on Jongdae’s chest and began to soap up Jongdae’s torso. When he was done with Jongdae’s front, he ran his soapy hands up and down Jongdae’s back, and then further down. His finger dipped in between Jongdae’s cheeks and lightly pressed against Jongdae’s asshole.

Jongdae bit his lip as hard as he could. Baekhyun stepped closer, a leg parting Jongdae’s legs, his thigh brushing up against Jongdae’s hard cock.

“Is it like this when you shower with the others?” Jongdae said through grinding teeth.

“No,” Baekhyun replied. “Could you wash my back?” He pressed the soap bar into Jongdae’s hands and then gripped Jongdae’s cock, pumping it slowly. He locked eyes with Jongdae the whole time. Part of Jongdae wanted to laugh. He wasn’t going to do a very good job of washing Baekhyun’s back.

Jongdae’s hands started at Baekhyun’s shoulders. He worked the soap into a lather and then dragged the bubbles down Baekhyun’s arms and back. Jongdae had never touched Baekhyun like this before. He took his time, tracing over Baekhyun’s taut muscles and sharp collarbones, running his hands down Baekhyun’s chest and over his abdominals. He stopped at the tip of Baekhyun’s erection, which was just as hard as Jongdae’s. Baekhyun’s hand on Jongdae’s cock was relentless.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae said, unsure of what he was asking for because there was so much he wanted.

Baekhyun kissed him. Jongdae embraced him and pulled him closer, groaning as their erections brushed against each other. Baekhyun slid his tongue between Jongdae’s open lips. Baekhyun whined when they broke apart for air, parting his lips to ask for another kiss. Jongdae kissed his jaw instead and then his neck. He thrust his hips against Baekhyun in abandon, anchoring himself in the crook of Baekhyun’s neck. Baekhyun gasped and met his thrusts, grabbing at Jongdae’s back, which was slippery from the hot water.

Jongdae came first. He rode out his orgasm against Baekhyun’s thigh and rested his head against Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun was breathing quickly, twitchy but unwilling to move. Jongdae kissed Baekhyun and rubbed his thumb over Baekhyun’s head.

“Jongdae,” Baekhyun groaned, wrapping his arms around Jongdae’s neck. Jongdae braced his back against the shower wall, taking Baekhyun’s weight. It only took a few pumps of Jongdae’s hand for Baekhyun to climax.

They let the water run until they both came down from their high. Then Jongdae turned off the water and toweled them off. They needed to talk, but once they were dressed, Baekhyun took Jongdae into his room and pushed him onto the bed. Before Jongdae could say anything, Baekhyun had climbed on top of him and began kissing him.

“Baekhyun, stop. We’ve got to talk,” Jongdae said, stopping Baekhyun with a thumb on his lips. Baekhyun kissed Jongdae’s thumb before sitting up. Jongdae sat up with Baekhyun and took both of his hands. “About that night in Beijing…”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Baekhyun said softly.

“I do. I know better than anyone how hard you’ve worked, and it was terrible for me to imply otherwise. I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” Jongdae said.

Baekhyun squeezed Jongdae’s hands. “I forgive you. Will you forgive me?”

“For what?” Jongdae asked.

“I _was_ jealous. Of Luhan. Of everyone. You’re so likeable,” Baekhyun said bitterly.

Jongdae laughed at Baekhyun’s expression. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I think you’re pretty likeable, yourself,” Jongdae said. He kissed Baekhyun on the forehead. “Byun Baekhyun, I love you. I was too scared to say it before, but I can’t hide it anymore. I love you so much.”

Baekhyun was quiet for a moment. “Kim Jongdae. I’ve loved you for a while, now,” Baekhyun admitted. “I thought that I could never tell you. That it would ruin everything we had.”

Jongdae pulled Baekhyun into his lap and kissed him fully. “Meeting you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Loving you… that’s everything to me. It always has been, since we met.”

Wetness fell onto Jongdae’s cheeks. Jongdae pulled back to see Baekhyun wiping his eyes. Jongdae pulled Baekhyun’s hands away from his face.

“Why are you crying?” Jongdae asked.

“I’m not crying. If you ever tell anyone I cried, I’ll deny it and I’ll ruin you,” Baekhyun said.

“You’ve already ruined me,” Jongdae said, hands slipping under Baekhyun’s shirt.

Baekhyun pushed Jongdae onto the bed again. “And now I’m about to ruin your sleep schedule.”

\---

Minseok and Kyungsoo came home when late night began to bleed into early morning.

“Baekhyun? Jongdae?” Minseok called. “Are you decent?”

Embarrassingly, they were not. Jongdae rolled off Baekhyun, who pushed him off at the same time, resulting in Jongdae falling off the bed with a thud.

“Please be in Baekhyun’s room,” Minseok pleaded.

Jongdae pulled on his pajama pants that he had thrown aside earlier in the night. Baekhyun had taken off Jongdae’s shirt, and now he couldn’t find it. Baekhyun threw him a shirt from the closet while pulling on sweatpants.

“Wait,” Baekhyun said just as Jongdae was about to open the door. “We could just pretend that we’re asleep.”

“We know you’re not asleep,” Kyungsoo said from outside. “We wish we didn’t. But we do.

Jongdae opened the door slowly. Kyungsoo and Minseok were standing awkwardly in the living room.

“Hey guys,” Baekhyun said. He nudged Jongdae forward until he stood in the living room just as awkwardly. Baekhyun rested his elbow casually on Jongdae’s shoulder. “You’re home late.”

Kyungsoo looked from Jongdae’s eyes to Baekhyun’s elbow and back again. “I told you we should have stayed at the other dorm, hyung,” Kyungsoo said to Minseok.

Minseok was blushing and looking at the ceiling. Jongdae started blushing, too.

“Um… so you guys aren’t fighting any more, right?” Minseok asked, avoiding eye contact like the plague.

“Define fighting,” Baekhyun said lazily.

“We’re not fighting,” Jongdae said quickly.

There was a pause where nobody said anything and nobody wanted to look at anyone. The exception was Baekhyun, who looked completely comfortable.

“Well, this has been a good talk. I’m going to go to sleep. I’ve had a good and tiring night,” Baekhyun said.

“I hate you,” Kyungsoo muttered, closing his eyes.

Baekhyun took Jongdae’s face in both his hands and kissed him with a loud smack. “Mwah. Good night, Jongdae,” he said softly.

“Good night, Baekhyun,” Jongdae said with a smile. Kyungsoo was covering his eyes with both hands, and Minseok had bent his neck back as far as he could.

Baekhyun closed his door.

“Okay. Ground rules,” Kyungsoo said, lowering his hands.

“Sex only in Baekhyun’s room,” Minseok said quickly.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo said.

“Where else would we…?” Jongdae said, somewhat annoyed. Kyungsoo only stared him down. Jongdae rolled his eyes. “Of course. We wouldn’t do that to you guys.”

“That’s my only ground rule,” Minseok said to Kyungsoo.

“Mine, too,” Kyungsoo said.

“You guys,” Jongdae whined, though the whining was half-hearted. Minseok bravely made eye contact with Jongdae and gave a small smile. Kyungsoo nodded at Jongdae resolutely. “Um… seriously though, thanks for…” Jongdae trailed off, not sure of what to say.

“Never thank us for this. Please.” Kyungsoo cracked a smile. “We’re just glad you’re talking to each other again.”

Kyungsoo retired to his room, and Minseok and Jongdae to theirs.

Minseok turned off the light. In the darkness, Jongdae heard him ask, “You’re still going to be my roommate, right?”

“Yeah, if that’s all right with you. I’m honestly not sure how this is going to work,” Jongdae admitted.

“If things change, I get it. Plus, I’d get my own room,” Minseok said optimistically.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much,” Jongdae warned. “I don’t… it’s too soon to…”

“I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Minseok said.

They didn’t say anything for a while. Jongdae could tell just by Minseok’s breathing that he was still awake.

“We’ll always be a team, right, hyung?” Jongdae asked.

“Always,” Minseok promised. “Xiumin and Chen.”

“Together ‘til the end,” Jongdae promised.

\---


	2. Epilogue

 

_Hit me like a ray of sun_  
_Burning through my darkest night_  
_You're the only one that I want_  
_Think I'm addicted to your light_  
_I swore I'd never fall again_  
_But this don't even feel like falling_  
_Gravity can't begin to pull me back to the ground again_

 

Halo (CHEN Solo) [Live]

Written by Ryan Tedder, Evan Bogart, and Beyoncé Knowles

Originally performed by Beyoncé

 

\---

 

Jongdae woke up first on the morning of the first concert in Beijing.  The light filtered through the gap between the curtains and onto Baekhyun’s face.  Eventually, Baekhyun stirred and turned over to face Jongdae. 

 

“Morning,” Jongdae said. 

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes again and pressed his face into Jongdae’s chest.  “A few more minutes.”

 

\---

 

Chen gave his water bottle to Baekhyun during the first break.  Baekhyun drank from it with one hand and fixed Chen’s hair with the other.  The other members began talking to the crowd.

 

“I’m so happy to be here!” Suho said in Mandarin.  Then in Korean, “We’re always excited to see our beloved Chinese fans.  It’s been too long.  Please enjoy the concert and keep cheering for us!”

 

The crowd cheered after Jiahui’s translation. 

 

“Hello, everyone!  Are you having a good time?” Lay asked.

 

“YES!”

 

“I’m not sure I heard you.  Are you having a good time?”

 

“YES!”

 

“Are the members good at speaking Chinese?” Lay asked.

 

“YES!”

 

“Who do you think taught them?”

 

“YIXING!”

 

“That’s right!”

 

“He’s taking credit for your Chinese,” Chen said to Suho and D.O.  Xiumin was translating for Sehun and Kai. 

 

“Hello everyone!  I am Buo Xian!” shouted Baekhyun.  “Did you miss me?”

 

“YES!”

 

“Are you guys cold?” Baekhyun asked. 

 

“NO!”

 

“Liars,” Baekhyun teased.  “We got zhajiangmian for lunch, and we almost froze.  Chanyeol had to use fire to save us.”

 

Chen laughed along with the crowd. Baekhyun gave the mic to Xiumin.

 

“Hello everyone!  It’s Xiumin!”

 

The roar of the crowd was deafening.

 

“I’m so happy to be here with you all.  I love Beijing!” Xiumin shouted.

 

“WE LOVE YOU!”

 

“I have news for you all.  Soon I join the army, so I can’t see you for a while.”

 

“AWW!”

 

“Will you wait for me?” Xiumin asked.  He pointed the microphone to the crowd.

 

“YES!”

 

“Don’t like anyone else, okay?”

 

“YES!”

 

“I love you!”

 

Xiumin finished his ment and handed the mic to Chen.  Chen took a deep breath.

 

“Hello everyone, I’m Chen!”

 

The crowd screamed for him.  Chen couldn’t help but smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics from the movie Chen and Baekhyun watch are from Disney’s _Hercules_ , “The Gospel Truth,” “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” and “Go the Distance.” The lyrics for “EXO’s off-title track” are from Tegan and Sara’s “Stop Desire.”
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated! Thank you for reading!


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